IPL 2020: AB de Villiers made it look easier than it really was, says Dinesh Karthik

After stumbling to an 82-run loss, Kolkata Knight Riders' skipper Dinesh Karthik said that Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) wicket-keeper batsman AB de Villiers made batting look easier than it really was.

RCB registered a comprehensive 82-run victory over KKR. While chasing 195, the Dinesh Karthik-led KKR was restricted to 112/9 as Chris Morris and Washington Sundar scalped two wickets each. For KKR, only Shubman Gill got among the runs as he played a knock of 34 runs.

"I think at various points of time we had opportunities to create little inroads, but they got away with some of the shots. AB de Villiers showed why he is such a good player, he made it look easier than it really was, to come out there and score 80 odd runs in the final five overs was not easy," said Karthik during the post-match press conference.

"Sometimes he (de Villiers) is a really hard batsman to bowl to because of the way he moves around the crease, it was not easy to bowl against him, in the match against us, he stayed still and he made sure he cleared his left leg and got a lot of balls outside the ground, overall kudos to him for the way he batted," he added.

In the match against RCB, KKR once again changed their openers as the side sent in Tom Banton in place of Rahul Tripathi. Talking about this particular move, Karthik said: "Once you play Tom Banton, you have to make sure he opens because that's where he's best at. Rahul Tripathi is versatile, he can adapt to any batting position and situation, so we made sure that Banton opens the batting as he does the same role for his international side."

While batting first, RCB posted a total of 194/2 in the allotted twenty overs. AB de Villiers played a knock of 73 runs from just 33 balls with the help of five fours and six 6s.

Virat and de Villiers shared an unbeaten partnership of 100 runs. For KKR, Varun Chakravarthy was the most economical bowler as he finished his four overs with figures of 0-25. RCB had scored 83 runs in the last five overs of their innings.

"I think the wicket was a bit slow as Virat had mentioned at the time of the toss. The wicket got a little slower, it was an ideal bat first wicket. I think at various points of time we had opportunities to create little inroads, but they got away with some of the shots AB de Villiers showed why he is such a good player, he made it look easier than it really was, to come out there and score 80 odd runs in the final five overs was not easy," said Karthik.

RCB will next take on Kings XI Punjab on October 15 while KKR will lock horns with Mumbai Indians on October 16. RCB is currently at the third position in the points table while KKR is in the fourth place.

(ANI)

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