Virat Kohli would certainly have hoped for something better in his milestone match.

In his 200th appearance for Royal Challengers Bangalore, the most by any cricketer for a franchise, not only did he fail to contribute with the bat but his team too came a cropper as Kolkata Knight Riders won by nine wickets at the Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

This emphatic victory helped the Knight Riders move up to No.5 in the table with six points. More importantly, full points from this game have helped them better their net run rate, which is back in the positive (+0.110).

Kolkata Knight Riders’ opening pair of Shubman Gill. PTI photo

Opting to bat first, RCB were never at ease against the Knight Riders bowlers, particularly Andre Russell (3/9), Varun Chakravarthy (3/13) and Lockie Ferguson (2/24). They were ultimately bundled out for a paltry 92 with an over remaining in their innings. The Knights’ batsmen then just needed to be a little sensible in their run chase, as openers Shubman Gill and debutant Venkatesh Iyer’s smart approach helped them motor home with 10 overs to spare.

Knight Riders exploited to perfection whatever little assistance was there for the bowlers on the pitch, bowling as many as 62 dot balls and conceding only eight boundaries. They ensured they did not take the foot off the gas, a mistake that Mumbai Indians made the other evening versus Chennai Super Kings.

Venkatesh Iyer at the crease. PTI photo

What also gets underlined is RCB’s handicap, particularly if captain Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers aren’t among the runs. Another question that could be raised is if Kohli could have waited a little longer to announce his decision of stepping down from the RCB captain’s post, maybe after the completion of this IPL. One wonders if that had any effect on the morale of the team.

Devdutt Padikkal, Royal Challengers Bangalore’s top-scorer on Monday, in Abu Dhabi. PTI photo

Moving-ball puzzle

The game was one opportunity for Kohli to divert all the attention, especially of those on the “outside of the team”, to his batting. But if it was Ollie Robinson and James Anderson who troubled him by getting movement off the pitch in England, young Prasidh Krishna led to Kohli’s undoing on this occasion.

Getting the ball to jag back just a bit, Prasidh trapped Kohli lbw as the latter tried to play across the line. Kohli took the DRS, but that couldn’t save him. That was the early breakthrough Eoin Morgan and his men were looking for.

Russell’s yorker

Usually expected to deliver with his towering sixes, Russell delivered with the ball too, unleashing a superb yorker that took De Villiers by surprise and cleaned him up for a golden duck. De Villiers’ early dismissal was a huge blow for RCB as their innings started going astray from thereon.

Wily Varun

Focusing primarily on bowling the stump-to-stump line, Chakravarthy mixed it up with occasional off-spin, which helped him remove danger man Maxwell and newcomer Wanindu Hasaranga off successive deliveries. That over, 12th of the RCB innings, further derailed Kohli’s team and virtually sealed the game in the Knight Riders’ favour.

In his first game after securing a berth in India’s T20 World Cup squad, the mystery spinner must have pleased chief selector Chetan Sharma and his colleagues who had preferred Chakravarthy over the experienced Yuzvendra Chahal.

Hero in the making

On his IPL debut, 26-year-old Venkatesh didn’t display any nerves when facing bowlers like Siraj, Kyle Jamieson, Chahal and Hasaranga.

The enterprising left-handed Madhya Pradesh batsman, who can also bowl a bit of right-arm medium pace, took no half measures whenever the ball was pitched on his arc, with some off-drives against the spin being among his shots that stood out.