IPL 2022: Dinesh Karthik delivered the goods with his death overs batting against KKR and RCB skipper Faf du Plessis compared him with the legendary MS Dhoni.
Royal Challengers Bangalore needed 7 runs to win off the last six balls with only three wickets in hand but the experienced Dinesh Karthik held his nerves to hit a six and a four to guide RCB to a three-wicket win against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai on Wednesday. Karthik was held back for the death overs, and he duly delivered when called upon and RCB captain Faf du Plessis was all praise for the experienced wicketkeeper-batter, even comparing his calmness in the death overs to the legendary MS Dhoni, with whom du Plessis has shared the dressing room with for several years.
“DK’s experience helped in the end, cool-calm, runs weren’t never really too far away. He’s probably as cool as MS Dhoni can get in the last five overs,” said Faf du Plessis in a post-match presentation.
Chasing 129, RCB got off to a tricky start, with Umesh Yadav and Tim Southee reducing them to 17/3 with some brilliant bowling in the Powerplay.
RCB had to play watchfully after that, leading to a simple change becoming a low-scoring thriller.
“Very happy. Good win, obviously chasing small scores, you want to be positive and not leave it late, but it was good bowling from their seamers,” explained Faf du Plessis.
RCB played their season opener at the same venue and saw their total of 205 chased down by Punjab Kings.
“Tonight there was seam and bounce, the first night it swung a bit more,” the RCB skipper said about the difference in the pitch over the two matches.
Despite the win, du Plessis believes that his team should have finished the match better as their bowlers bowled out Kolkata Knight Riders for 128 in 18.5 overs.
“Two-three days ago, it was 200 v 200. Tonight it was 120 v 120, pretty good. In an ideal world, we would’ve liked to have won more convincingly but a win is a win,” told Faf du Plessis.
The Faf du Plessis-led side has registered their first win of the season and now they will take on Rajasthan Royals in their next match on April 5.
“Sure You Don’t Want To Captain One More Season”: Devon Conway Reveals “Nice Little Conversation” With MS Dhoni
IPL 2022: Speaking to CSK’s social media team, Devon Conway opened up about a conversation with MS Dhoni. The Kiwi cricketer also praised the former India captain and Ravindra Jadeja.
Having made his Indian Premier League debut this year in IPL 2022, New Zealand cricketer Devon Conway didn’t have the best start against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Match 1 on March 26. The opener could only muster three runs off eight balls as CSK could only post 131 for five in 20 overs, setting a target of 132 runs, which KKR crossed with ease in 18.3 overs. The 30-year-old will be aiming to gain some momentum in his campaign and expressed delight at playing with MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja. Speaking to CSK’s social media team, Conway spoke about his initial aim to play under Dhoni’s captaincy and also about a conversation with the former India skipper.
He said, “I was wanting to play under the great MS Dhoni as captain. I had a nice little conversation with him. I said, ‘you’re sure you don’t want to captain one more season so I can play under you as captain?'”
“Then he said no, I am always going to be around anyway.”
Dhoni stepped down from captaincy of CSK two days before the start of IPL 2022, handing over the reins to Ravindra Jadeja.
“A couple of days ago I had lunch and sat in between MS and Jaddu. It was really cool just to get to know them better. There are just normal men, down-to-earth. There’s no aura about them, easy to get along and easy to talk to”, Conway further added.