“The plan was to take the pace off”: KKR’s Rana after sealing 1-run win over RCB

Following his side’s close 1-run win over Royal Challenger Bengaluru (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) Harshit Rana said that they planned to take the pace off while bowling.
Rana picked up two wickets and gave 33 runs in his four-over spell at an economy rate of 8.20.
While speaking at the post-match presentation, Rana said that he tried to calm himself down while bowling and execute the plan. Talking about the last over of the match, he added that it was “very intense”.
“The plan was to take the pace off and that’s what I did. Whenever I have the ball, different thoughts come into my mind, but I try to keep a calm head and execute. Cannot describe what happened in the last over as it was a very intense game till the end,” Rana said.
Recapping the match, RCB skipper Faf Du Plessis won the toss and elected to field first. Phil Salt’s explosive 48 in 14 balls, with seven fours and three sixes, provided the two-time champions with some extra runs in the powerplay. Wickets were falling from the other end continuously, but skipper Shreyas Iyer (50 in 36 balls, with seven fours and a six), Rinku Singh (24 in 16 balls, with two fours and a six), Andre Russell (27* in 20 balls, with four boundaries) and Ramandeep Singh (24* in nine balls, with two fours and two sixes) contributed just enough to take them to 222/6 in their 20 overs.
Cameron Green (2/35) was the pick of the bowlers for RCB. Yash Dayal also picked up two wickets but leaked 56 runs. Mohammed Siraj and Lockie Ferguson took a wicket.
In the run-chase, RCB lost Virat Kohli (18) and Faf Du Plessis (7) early. A 102-run partnership between Will Jacks (55 in 32 balls, with four boundaries and five sixes) and Rajat Patidar (52 in 23 balls, with three fours and five sixes) helped RCB bounce back,
However, spells from Andre Russell (3/25) and Sunil Narine (2/34) changed the match once again. Karn Sharma attempted to swing the match in RCB’s favour with three sixes in the final over, however, the team fell short by a run and skittled out for 221 in 20 overs.
Russell got the ‘Player of the Match’ for his knock of 27 and three wickets.
With this win, KKR moved up to the second spot with five wins and two losses, giving them 10 points. The RCB stays bottom of the table with a win and seven losses, aggregating just two points. (ANI)