But this season has been a sobering experience for the veteran wicketkeeper-batsman. His exploits in the IPL paved the way for his return to the national side. It’s tough to decide whether Dinesh Karthik is a part-time cricketer or part-time commentator these days. The next over saw a trademark straight hit towards the sight-screen for six, signalling that it was ‘Go’ Time. The next ball saw a more nuanced shot, as the Australian got on his toes, opened the bat face, and glided one over backward point. He was in his groove, but Maxwell got the better of him by stepping down the track and reverse-swatting a short ball over the fielder inside the circle. The veteran medium pacer was the villain of the piece with a last-ball no-ball against Sunrisers Hyderabad, but seemed to have put that behind. So the Big Show took matters into his own hands against the usually relaible Sandeep Sharma. The pitch didn’t seem conducive for big shots but something had to give, especially with Glenn Maxwell at the crease. One would have been forgiven to mistake it for the middle overs of a 50-over game – runs coming mostly in singles, with the odd boundary thrown in. Grasping the nature of the pitch, both Du Plessis and Kohli relied on singles and twos and eschewed risky shots in their 50-run stand that consumed seven overs. So boundaries dried up-just three fours, one of them edged, and a six were all they could manage. Yet, in Jaipur the start was cautious, approach more old-fashioned, as the surface was a tad slow, the new ball holding off the surface, and Sandeep Sharma and Adam Zampa hitting tight lengths. No batsman has scored more in this phase than Du Plessis (251), and only Ajinkya Rahane has a better strike than him. RCB have been exceptional, averaging 55.3 runs in 11 games, the third best scoring rate after Rajasthan Royals (56.3) and Chennai Super Kings (56.9). Openers striking boundaries from the first ball and looking to maximise the field restrictions. & 👏🏻👏🏻 #TATAIPL | #RRvRCB | | /gkd圜B3hXfīlistering starts have been the theme this season. Both sprung back on their feet and accused, in jest, each other of ball watching. And just in time, Du Plessis, all of 36, dived desperately to make the ground, so desperate that he ended up rolling on the ground in the momentum of the dive.
Jaiswal quickly hurled the ball back to the keeper, but it landed on the adjoining pitch on the square and bounced awkwardly on Sanju Samson, who missed the ball. Already this edition of the IPL has seen some comical run outs. Nonetheless, they continued the run rather than retreating to the crease. Both suddenly froze, as though choreographed. Abruptly, both realised that Kohli had timed the ball better than he had thought and Yashaswi Jaiswal was quick to gather the ball. Virat Kohli back foot-punched Adam Zampa’s first ball of the second over, and immediately teed off. It ended in laughs, but it could have easily ended up in tears. That they barely made it past the halfway mark of a T20 innings on Sunday tells its own abject story. They were one of the better sides in the first phase of the tournament, but would be left to rue their fall in standards as the business end of the league approached. With just one match left for them in the league phase, it would be a very optimistic Royals fan who would give them any chance of making the playoffs, as they need a whole lot of other results to go their way. The loss of two points was bad enough, but the dent these embarrassing displays have on their net run rate cannot be underestimated.
One thought the home game against Gujarat Titans, where they were bowled out for 118 batting first was disastrous, till one saw their capitulation for exactly half that score against Royal Challengers Bangalore. When Rajasthan Royals are bad, they are abysmal.
0 kommentar(er)
