It was the first time that KKR were playing under the captaincy of Dinesh Karthik. DK won the toss and invited RCB to bat.

The RCB side got off to a reasonable start courtesy Brendon McCullum’s power hitting. AB De Villiers joined the party afterward with his imperious hitting.

However, both Virat Kohli and De Villiers fell to Nitish Rana on consecutive balls which applied the brakes on the scoring. RCB eventually posted 176 in their 20 overs.

In reply, Kolkata got off to a flier with the help of some amazing hitting by Sunil Narine. Although RCB pegged them back with wickets at regular intervals, the partnership between Karthik and Rana brought the game in Kolkata’s court.

Let us have a look at the five reasons why the Virat Kohli led side lost the contest.

#5 Kohli’s unusual struggle

Kohli is easily the best batsman in the limited overs format. He rarely struggles with his timing.

However, today was one such occasion. Having come into bat in the second over of the innings, he struggled to get the wrist spinners away.

On a pitch that was conducive to stroke play, it was a bit surprising to see Virat struggle the way he did. He managed to score a paltry 31 runs off 33 balls, striking it at less than run a ball.

His innings included just two boundaries. Kohli’s misery was ended by a fast yorker from “would you believe it” – Rana.

RCB fans would hope that this was just one off occasion and Kohli would soon be back to his best.

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#4 Sunil Narine’s day with the bat

Sunil Narine has been a thorn in RCB’s flesh for a while. Last season, he destroyed RCB’s attack at the Chinnaswamy stadium by scoring the then fastest fifty in IPL’s history of just 15 balls.

Narine was at it again. Sent to open the batting along with Lynn, he single-handedly took on the RCB bowlers.

He launched Woakes for 20 runs in the fourth over of the innings. Next, it was the turn of Washington Sundar.

The off-spinner was deposited for two sixes and a four on course to a fifty of just 17 balls. It was a bit of Déjà vu for the RCB fans.

#3 An off day for RCB’s spinners

RCB are banking heavily on the spin duo of Washington Sundar and Yuzvendra Chahal this season.

Both of them were off-color today. While the usually frugal Sundar was taken to the cleaners by Narine, Chahal too struggled with his line and never really looked threatening.

Sundar conceded a whopping 19 runs of his second over which shifted the momentum Kolkata’s way.

With only five bowling options to choose from, Kohli had no option but to go back to his spinners. However, they failed to live up to his expectations.

#2 Karthik-Rana partnership

Karthik and Rana came together at the crease after the fall of Robin Uthappa in the eighth over.

With almost a hundred runs needed at that time, the game was firmly in the balance. Both of them stitched together a 55-run partnership and tilted the balance in KKR’s favour.

What was impressive to see was the composure they displayed at the crease. Both Rana and Karthik rotated the strike well and collected boundaries of the loose balls.

When Rana fell to Sundar, Kolkata needed an easily achievable 39 off 33 balls.

#1 Rana’s dream over

The masterstroke of the day goes to DK’s decision to throw the ball to Rana. With De Villiers going all guns blazing, few eyebrows were raised when the KKR captain threw the ball to the former Mumbai Indians batsman in the 15th over.

De Villiers duly obliged on the first ball and launched him for a six over deep midwicket. On the very next ball, he tried to repeat the treatment but ended up top edging it into the safe hands of Mitchell Johnson.

On the next ball, Rana ended up yorking Kohli and sending the thousands gathered at the Eden Garden into raptures. The game was turned on its head.

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