Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kolkata Knight Riders Highlights today, Monday 11-10-2021 – Eliminator (N), Indian Premier League season 14th from Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Virat Kohli won the toss and chose to bat.
Kohli: “Unchanged XI. The nice hard surface so want to bat. Chasing has been challenging in Sharjah. A youngster stepped up in the last game to help beat a top side in Delhi. The way KS batted was particularly good. This is what the tournament is all about – youngsters stepping up. (About the knockout) Nothing different, nothing changes for us. We’ve still got areas to improve on, that will be our focus.”
Eoin Morgan: “We would’ve bowled first, so doesn’t bother us. We’ve played some good cricket, and guys are starting to establish themselves in their roles. Same team as before.”
IPL 2021 Points Table
Royal Challengers Bangalore team: 1 Virat Kohli (capt), 2 Devdutt Padikkal, 3 KS Bharat (wk), 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 AB de Villiers, 6 Dan Christian, 7 Shahbaz Ahmed, 8 George Garton, 9 Harshal Patel, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal.
Kolkata Knight Riders team: 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Venkatesh Iyer, 3 Nitish Rana, 4 Rahul Tripathi, 5 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 6 Eoin Morgan (capt), 7 Andre Russell/Shakib Al Hasan, 8 Sunil Narine, 9 Lockie Ferguson, 10 Varun Chakravarthy, 11 Shivam Mavi.
Match Timings: 14:00 GMT | 18:00 Local
Umpires – Chris Gaffaney, Virender Sharma
TV Umpires – Anil Chaudhary
Match Referee – Manu Nayyar
Reserve Umpire – Sundaram Ravi
Match number – Indian Premier League 2021 Eliminator
Kohli:
“(Difference in the match) Their spinners dominated the game in the middle overs. They kept taking wickets there. We had a great start and probably should’ve tried to build on it. It was more about quality bowling instead of poor batting. (Bowling effort of RCB) Outstanding. Been the hallmark this season. But tonight that big over in the middle deflated our chances in the middle. We fought till the last.
But 15 runs left out there with the bat and a couple of big overs with the ball. (Narine) Always been a quality bowler and tonight once again showed why he is the most consistent wicket-takers in the IPL. Not just him, Shakib, Varun, and him all three bowled amazingly together. They created pressure together for our batters to not get their big shots. (Last season as RCB captain) I’ve tried my best to create a culture where youngsters could come and play expressive cricket.
It’s something I’ve tried to do at the India level as well. All I can say is that I have given my best. I have given my 120% to this franchise and will continue giving it as a player on the field. It’s a great time to regroup and restructure the franchise for the next three years. I will definitely (play for RCB). For me, loyalty matters and my commitment is with this franchise till the last day I play IPL.”
Gill: “Not many gave us a chance that we would qualify. I didn’t have the best of the first leg in India, but I knew I was batting well. Delhi are a really balanced team as we see it. This was our third match here, and coming again the day after tomorrow, we know what to expect from the wicket. I think we would have an edge over Delhi Capitals. The first powerplay was totally against us, but the way Sunny [Narine] and Varun bowled… Keep building the pressure on them was important, and that is what the spinners did.”
Post match presentation
Morgan: “Narine makes it look very easy. He bowled outstandingly well. Throughout the innings, we continued to take wickets. Good start from the bowlers, and we were in control in the chase. A quite like it [having three spinners around[. It is a huge privilege when there are world-class spinners around. They continue to get better and better. When it comes off [with our batting order], it looks quite deep. [Advantage to play in Sharjah again] For us, it is a matter of coming back and adjusting. We are looking forward to it. I thought we had a chance [when we landed in the UAE], but the cricket we have played has surprised everybody. Everyone came with a drive to perform… Narine is a cool customer and is very level-headed.”
Narine is the Player of the Match for his all-round day: “Definitely [one of the greatest T20 performances]. When you perform, and the team comes out winning… I am prepared to be out the first ball. Some days it comes off, some days it doesn’t. I enjoy all wickets, but getting Kohli and tying them was my goal. It was a total team effort. [Doubt with the new action] I am getting close – not that close as yet like before – and the hard work has paid off. [I am] pretty calm and cool when it comes to cricket. I like funny stuff as well.”
