Lynn carries the Knights with an injured shoulder

Mumbai: The talk after Royal Challengers Bangalore lost to Kolkata Knight Riders is that Bangalore batting line-up may be good, but it’s their bowling and shoddy fielding, which is stopping them from defending decent totals.

Bangalore fans had to admit that though their team is named Challengers, they aren’t one despite posting a challenging total of 176 for four. Chris Lynn, who had dislocated his right shoulder in Auckland when he fell awkwardly while playing for Australia against New Zealand in a T20 series in February, displayed tremendous form to anchor the reply for the Knights. The prognosis after his injury was that he might need a surgery but specialists in Brisbane said he may not need to undergo the surgery. Lynn has used the good news to hit 74 against Kings XI Punjab on April 21 and also missed a half-century by one run against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Talking about his injury and form, Lynn told the media: “I’ve had to grind out some runs this season. The body is getting there, been a tough schedule and I’m chipping away.”

Playing the spinners has helped Lynn master the sweep and get runs. “Definitely got to use the sweep in this part of the world, especially against spin bowling. Whatever scenario comes, I’m going to play it by the ear,” said the 28-year-old Australian.

Lynn is happy that he could thus shoulder the responsibility of Kolkata’s batting. “On a night like tonight and a wicket like tonight, it was a bit challenging to get a strike rate of 200, so the more time I am going to spend in the middle, the quicker I am going to get that [flow] back. At the moment, I am happy to finish not out and get the team home because that was what was needed. Hope I can build on the confidence at the back-end of the tournament,” he added.

Kolkata captain Dinesh Karthik is delighted by the way Lynn handled the spinners, especially Yuzvendra Chahal as most batsmen have struggled against him in recent times. What made Lynn’s knock special is that the knock was played on a surface that helped spinners at Chinnaswamy stadium.

Commenting on the victory, Karthik said: “I thought it was a par score, they batted really well and we knew Virat was the big wicket we needed in AB’s absence. He came all guns blazing. I believe we need to have a strong core and trust them. I’ve felt that you need to trust the players that are part of the XI.”