The drying up of the runs in the end was not too different to how Josh Hazlewood forced KKR into a slow start. The first three overs brought just nine runs and the wicket of Quinton de Kock. The new ball stopped a little and went a little up and down.
Once Rahane got started with a gift on the leg side, the next seven overs produced 98 runs. Rahane was brutal, putting a low price on his wicket and taking risks every time he could. Narine went from 1 off eight to score 43 off the next 18 balls he faced. It involved taking down his former team-mate, legspinner Suyash, whom he played like an offspinner.
Krunal, though, pulled things back once Narine got out to Rasikh Salam. He even tried a bouncer in a spell in which he kept changing the pace often. Two of his three wickets were bowled, which was a tribute to his accuracy.
Hazlewood and Yash Dayal closed out superbly for RCB to give them what looked like an easy target provided Narine and Varun Chakravarthy didn’t cause much damage.
