Faf du Plessis heaped praise on Dinesh Karthik after registering his first win as Royal Challengers Bangalore captain in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, likening the veteran India batter’s finishing skills to that of MS Dhoni. The South African star’s comments came after RCB prevailed in a low-scoring thriller against Kolkata Knight Riders at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.
Chasing 129, RCB were jolted early by a superb spell of new-ball bowling from KKR pacers Umesh Yadav and Tim Southee. RCB were 17/3 in just 2.1 overs, losing openers du Plessis and Anuj Rawat following which Yadav got the big wicket of Virat Kohli, who began well.
However, RCB recovered through handy contributions from David Willey (18) and Sharfane Rutherford (28) following which all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed came up with a quickfire 27. However, RCB were jolted towards the end overs as Tim Southee picked up 2 wickets, including that of Rutherford and Wanindu Hasaranga.
Needing 17 runs in the last 2 over, RCB had Dinesh Karthik in the middle and as expected the veteran wicketkeeper-batter did the finishing job to perfection. When 7 were needed off the last over, Karthik pulled a Andre Russell bouncer to a six before hitting a boundary to take them past the finish line.
“Just the experience. The runs were never a problem. We just needed to have wickets in hand. DK is as close as it gets to MS Dhoni when it comes to being ice cool,” Faf du Plessis said while explaining the decision to hold back Karthik for the end overs.
Notably, Karthik had hit 32 off 14, hitting 3 sixes and as many boundaries in RCB’s opener against Punjab Kings but his efforts ended in vain as Mayank Agarwal’s men chased down 206 with an over to spare.
