Mystery spinner KC Cariappa finally comes good for Kings XI Punjab

KC Cariappa is an anomaly if one goes by his domestic record. A search on the 5’11” leg-spinner shows only a handful of T20 matches, seven to be exact for Karnataka, with just nine wickets.

Yet in 2015, Kolkata Knight Riders saw enough talent in him to pick him for Rs 2.5 crore.

He played just one match against Royal Challengers Bangalore and snared AB de Villiers. It seemed he would join the long list of mystery players who played a season in the IPL before slipping into oblivion.

After spending some time away from the league, Cariappa was picked by Kings XI Punjab for Rs 80 lakh. Playing in the third match of the season for his franchise, it was time for the spinner to hog the limelight.

Cariappa had gone wicketless against Gujarat Lions, and against Delhi Daredevils he had picked one for 37. As Royal Challengers hit the ground running with KL Rahul and Virat Kohli looking in fine touch, KXIP skipper Murali Vijay tried everything in his power to stem the flow of runs, including rotating the bowlers.

As 50 came up in 31 balls, RCB looked set for a big total. Cariappa was introduced in the eighth over, and Kings XI managed to put the brakes on RCB’s innings.

Cariappa justified the faith shown by his skipper with twin strikes in the space of a delivery. He first accounted for Karnataka teammate Rahul and then removed Kohli.

As other bowlers went for runs, Cariappa bowled a seam-up delivery to remove Rahul, who had raced to a quick 42 off 25 balls, off the third ball of the eighth over. A delivery later, he had the prized wicket of Kohli, who found Vijay at extra cover after failing to keep the ball on the ground.

The twin strikes hurt RCB’s momentum. Even though the spinner proved difficult to get away, skipper Vijay didn’t bowl him out, and he had figures of 3-0-16-2.