Royal Challengers Bengaluru posted a 4-wicket win over Gujarat Titans at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday.
RCB wrapped up GT for 147 runs in 19.3 overs before going on to chase own the target with 38 deliveries to spare.
The hosts got off to a blistering start as the opening partnership of Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli put up 92 runs on the board in the powerplay before skipper du Plessis was dismissed by Joshua Little after notching up his half-century.
Bengaluru lost wickets in quick succession as they found themselves at 111 for the loss of 5 wickets with Will Jacks, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell and Cameroon Green going back to the hut for single digits as Dinesh Karthik came out to bat.
Virat Kohli went back to the hut for 42 as RCB were in deep trouble at 117 for six, but Karthik’s measured innings helped the home side labour to the win.
When quizzed about his thoughts on the game Karthik revealed that he did not expect to come into bat following the start their openers had provided, but had to take crease following the collapse of the batting order.
“The day started with a cup of tea, then after four overs I had a cappuccino and thought I wouldn’t be batting. I wasn’t padded up, I wasn’t mentally ready, I was just chilling,” he began.
“And then things happened and I had to pad up. I was a touch late but I just managed to make it.” he continued.
Karthik displayed maturity in tackling the low target as he bided his time and helped his side over the finish line with some sensible cricket considering how quick and fast the wickets were falling.
Karthik spoke about the different type of pressure that comes with the responsibility of chasing down low totals with wickets falling in a cluster. He opined that the ability to pick up boundaries without taking risks come to the fore at such times.
“It’s a very different sort of pressure, it’s one thing chasing down totals in an interesting way and all you need to think about is hitting boundaries. But if there’s a lot of time and you need to make sure that playing sensibly is also the need of the hour, then your basic cricketing skills come through, how you are able to hit boundaries without taking risks,” the 38-year-old said.
“Over a period of time, that’s been my strengths, so I backed myself to that,” he added.
Karthik gave his appraisal of the pitch and stated that it was good toss to win.
“The pitch was initially good to bowl on. Being under the covers for so long, there was a bit of moisture. It was sticky, tough to start on, good toss to win and we bowled very well,” the wicketkeeper-batter said.
He added that the bowling effort from the unit was terrific as they limited GT to the lowest powerplay score in the ongoing edition of the tournament.
“Got to give credit to the bowlers. No matter what the pitch is, to keep the score under the score we kept at the end of six overs is quite a task and I thought they bowled beautifully today,” Karthik added.
Karthik also commended du Plessis and Kohli for their batting ability and the manner in which they wetey went about things on the day.
“The way Faf and Virat batted, I don’t think you could have played the some kind of shots if you were batting first. Also, the skill that both of them have, I enjoyed how they went about things.”
Swapnil Singh accompanied Karthik as they put the finishing touches on the chase. The veteran opened up about his words of wisdom for the young batter, who remained unbeaten to see off the game.
“I told Swapnil to play for the ball that comes in so that the one that goes away remains a dot ball. It looks good but doesn’t get the wicket.”
“He asked me if sweep was a good option and I said, ‘If you feel sweep is a good option, back yourself to do it but commit to the shot, don’t be half-hearted.’ Then he executed those two sweep shots which were very good and that was the need of the hour in a way,” he concluded.
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