We’ve always had the belief that we can bounce back: Nitish Rana

A chuffed Nitish Rana lauded the character shown by his side at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday as the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) snapped a four-match losing streak to trump hosts Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by 21 runs to register their third win of the season.

KKR enjoyed a fine start to their season, winning two of their first three games, but then went on a damning four-match losing streak. Plenty went wrong, on both the batting and bowling fronts, and there were questions raised about the ability of the Rana-led unit to stage a comeback. 

But on Wednesday, they snapped their losing streak in style to do the double over RCB.

At the post-match presentation, Rana asserted that he never doubted his side’s ability to bounce back.

“Last 3-4 matches I've been saying the same thing at the toss - if we play well collectively, result will be in our favour,” Rana said.

“You need a lot of character in the dressing room to give a performance like this in our situation. The belief has always been there that we'll bounce back.”

Most sides like to chase under lights at the Chinnaswamy, and Kohli opted to bowl after winning the toss, but Rana, at the toss, interestingly claimed that KKR were looking to bat first either way. 

As it turned out, RCB’s decision to put KKR into bat ended up working out well for the visitors, who successfully defended 200 following a fine showing from both the batters and the bowlers.

Rana credited his bowlers for their disciplined showing.

“We wanted to put a score on the board. Felt like it would turn in the second innings because there wasn't much dew. It didn't turn a lot but we bowled well.”

Varun Chakravarthy (3/27) bagged the Player of the Match award but an unsung hero on the night for KKR was young Suyash Sharma. Thrown the ball after RCB had gotten off to a flyer, 30/0 in 2 overs, Suyash dismissed Faf du Plessis and Shahbaz Ahmed in back-to-back overs to halt the hosts’ momentum, and then rounded his spell off with a fine six-run over in the 15th to finish with figures of 2/30 off his 4.

The 19-year-old, who had played no professional cricket prior to this IPL, has been growing from strength to strength, and Rana was full of praise for the youngster’s confidence and self-belief.

“Suyash has always been the first to out his hand up and say I will do it for you. 

“He always says I'll do the job. We tell him to not look at who is batting against you, just focus on your own bowling.

“We hope to keep repeating what we did today.”

With the victory, KKR have moved above Mumbai Indians on the points table. They next take on Gujarat Titans at Eden Gardens on Saturday, April 29.