By Bharath Ramaraj
Reece Topley and the injury curse
Five stress fractures of the back over a period of six years. Shoulder surgery and a broken hand. Add in the ankle injury that ruled him out of England’s victorious 2022 T20 World Cup campaign, and now this shoulder dislocation. Reece Topley must be wondering whether he has been cursed by someone. In the RCB versus MI game, Topley had started on a perfect note by castling Cameron Green. However, in the eighth over, he dived to stop a single. Unfortunately, he landed awkwardly on his right shoulder. Later, Ian Bishop on commentary revealed that Topley had suffered a dislocation of the joint. Although he also added that it had been popped back in place.
RCB’s new-ball menace
Until Topley sustained the injury, almost everything had gone RCB’s way. Mohammed Siraj made the initial incision by removing Ishan Kishan in just the third over. Topley followed that up by dislodging Green with the inswinger, while Akash Deep chipped in by sending Rohit Sharma back to the hut with nifty movement off the seam. There was a decent covering of grass on the pitch, and RCB’s pace bowlers took full advantage of it.
Tilak showcases batting smarts and temperament
Tilak Varma has already gained a reputation for exploring different parts of the ground with a wide range of shots. In the game against RCB, he showed more evidence of his ability to find the gaps with clockwork precision, alongside cracking the big shots. He came out to bat with his side in trouble at 20 for 3, and it soon became 48 for 4. Tilak then stitched a 50-run stand with Nehal Wadhera and subsequently strung together an alliance of 48 with the young Arshad Khan to take the side to a fighting total of 171 for 7. Flick, pull, reverse sweep, lofts – Tilak certainly put on an impressive exhibition of strokeplay.
The Kohli-Du Plessis duo
The experienced duo provided the platform for RCB’s win with a partnership of 148, which more or less sealed the deal. Du Plessis essayed drives, slogs, sweeps and lofts to put the pressure back on MI’s bowlers. Kohli too showed his class and quality by employing a couple of sumptuous pulls against Jofra Archer, MI’s pace spearhead. Kohli also brought out the slog while facing Arshad. The meaty blows were also twinned with the occasional glance and steer.
What could have MI done differently in the field?
For a start, on a track that seemed to get better as the match progressed, they should have grabbed half-chances offered by Kohli and Du Plessis. Archer couldn’t hold on to a caught-and-bowled opportunity offered by Kohli, while Ishan Kishan fluffed one behind the stumps. MI also started with two swing bowlers – Jason Behrendorff and Arshad. Instead, they could have brought Archer into the attack straight away as he would have offered something different.