Bangalore registered their first win in the Indian T20 League 2022 against Kolkata in the 6th match of the season. The match turned out to be a very close affair as is expected when the two teams meet generally. The match was a low-scoring thriller as both the teams were shaky with their batting efforts.
Bangalore won the toss in the match and decided to field first. The Bangalore bowlers were too much to handle for the Kolkata batters from the very start of their innings. Bangalore restricted Kolkata to just 128 runs. While chasing the relatively small target Bangalore displayed nervousness from the very beginning. They failed to build any sustainable partnership and it looked like they have lost the plot. But Faf Du Plessis held back Dinesh Karthik till the 5th wicket fell. Karthik came out to bat in the 16th over the innings. He played out the dangerous Sunil Narine and took the game deep. With the help of Harshal Patel’s cameo at the end, Karthik took Bangalore to 3 wicket victory in the low-scoring thriller.
During the post-match interview, Faf revealed the reason behind holding Karthik back so deep. He said that the plan was to use the experience of Dinesh Karthik towards the end in the pressure situation. He also compared the calmness and composure of Karthik with that of MS Dhoni, who is regarded as the best under pressure during a chase by many.
“In an ideal world, we would have liked to have won more convincingly but a win is a win. DK’s experience helped in the end, cool-calm, runs weren’t never really too far away. DK is as close as it gets to MS Dhoni when it comes to being ice cool. I rely on other people for help.â€- Du Plessis said during the post-match interview.
