Bengaluru, APR 23,
The relief was evident on Virat Kohli’s face on Sunday. When it seemed to all the world that M.S. Dhoni had pulled off another spectacular escape, RCB sneaked home. Defeat to CSK would have formally ended RCB’s already faint hopes of progress in the competition. As it turned out, Parthiv Patel’s throw hit the stumps, and RCB still has something to play for.
Kohli’s men will hope to carry that winning feeling into their next game, against Kings XI Punjab at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday. A huge factor in RCB’s renaissance has been Dale Steyn. The South African fast bowler arrived, as Parthiv pointed out, “without any baggage of what had happened in the tournament before”.
And he has been excellent, taking two wickets each — in the PowerPlay overs — against KKR and CSK. It’s something RCB’s bowlers had been failing to do earlier, and it has made a palpable difference.
