New Delhi:
The game between Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders at the Feroz Shah Kotla witnessed plenty of twists and turns. Kolkata Knight Riders were reduced to 64/5 in 10 overs and they were revived by a brilliant knock of 62 from 28 balls by Andre Russell and a brilliant fifty from Dinesh Karthik. In response, Prithvi Shaw slammed 99 but Kolkata Knight Riders dragged the game into the super over with Kuldeep Yadav managing to defend six runs. In the super over, Delhi Capitals managed to reach 10/1 and Kagiso Rabada held his nerve to bowl Russell with a yorker and seal a three-run win in the super over.
Speaking after the post-match press conference, Rabada explained the value of the yorker. “I thought, what do we bowl here? We could bowl bouncers. We could bowl slower balls. But it's risky. It's a gamble balls. I wasn't really feeling (like) them on the day. On another day, I could have felt (like bowling) them. But today I felt (like bowling) the yorker. At the start of my run up I was thinking, 'do I go length', because Andre Russell is going to hit anything that's full. So I still second guessed myself, which is not a very good thing. You don't want to run in having two things in your mind. But again, I backed the yorker,” Rabada said.
Rabada symbolised the importance of the yorker and stressed that it was a wicket-taking ball. “If you see, some of the bowlers like (Curtly) Ambrose, (Wasim) Akram, Waqar Younis (they) used the yorker as a wicket-taking delivery and surprised batsmen with it. The batsmen knew it was coming, but couldn't do much about it. Those players as also the likes of Lasith Malinga and Jasprit Bumrah are natural with the Yorkers,” Rabada said.
The South African pacer’s yorker to Russell, bowled at 147 kpmh which uprooted middle stump, has already been dubbed as the ‘Ball of the IPL’ in 2019. “Rabada's Super Over and the ball that he bowled to Andre Russell is probably going to be the ball of the IPL. To bowl that kind of a delivery to Andre Russell, who is probably in the form of his life, is unbelievable,” Ganguly told in an interview to IPLT20.com
Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Dinesh Karthik was full of praise for Russell for playing the all-rounder role despite being hit on his shoulder by a beamer from Harshal Patel. "He is an absolute team man. His shoulder is still bruised. He is special," said Karthik. The Kolkata Knight Riders skipper was not disheartened after a close defeat.
