The demons of the night of Qualifier 1 went away for Prasidh Krishna as soon as he marked his bowling run-up in the Qualifer 2 game of Rajasthan Royals against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Friday. The pacer returned match-defining figures of 3/22 in his four overs to provide his side a chance to enter the final of IPL for a second time in history.
RR skipper Sanju Samson won the toss and opted to bowl first at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. RCB, who had won the Eliminator game batting first, started with the opening pair of Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis. Trent Boult bowled the first over that conceded eight runs including a six from Kohli and then came Krishna to bowl the next over.
A confident Prasidh Krishna dismissed Kohli on the fifth ball of his over to start the game on a high. The lanky pacer never made it felt as he was the same bowler who was taken to cleaners by David Miller in the last over of the Gujarat Titans vs Rajasthan Royals Qualifier 1 game. Notably, Miller had hit three back-to-back sixes to Krishna as GT needed 16 runs off the final over.
However, Krishna made a beautiful comeback on Friday night as he also dismissed Dinesh Karthik, the finisher of RCB this season, before rattling the stumps of new batsman Wanindu Hasaranga with a toe-crushing yorker. While it was 0/40 in 3.3 overs against GT, Krishna registered figures of 3/22 in four overs against RCB.
Fans on social media lauded the remarkable comeback of Prasidh Krishna. Here are some of the reactions:
Krishna’s effort alongside Obed McCoy’s 3/23 helped RR restrict RCB to 157/8 in 20 overs despite Rajat Patidar’s 58 off 42.
