It is hard to describe what transpired between the 16th and the 20th over of the Kings XI Punjab innings as it was really difficult to understand what the batsmen were trying to do when all they needed from the last five overs was just 48 runs with nine wickets in hand and a settled captain and the most in-form hitter in Nicholas Pooran at the crease.
Kings XI were outdone by two runs at Abu Dhabi in a yet another Kolkata Knight Riders special, as the Dinesh Karthik led team made a comeback from, a place which seemed unbelievable to claw back from. 21 runs were needed from three overs and Pooran was going berserk. Then suddenly he decided to play a shot that was never required throwing away his wicket at the most crucial moment of the game.
Then came the biggest mistake of the game, sending a Prabhsimaran Singh in front of a wily Sunil Narine was like sending the goat in front of the lion, who feasted happily on it. Two runs from the 18th over is what the Kings got suddenly sending their required run-rate to the sky and again with Prabhsimran on strike, but this time against Prasidh Krishna.
With a brilliant over from Krishna in which he got both Prabhsimran and Rahul out and just gave away 6 runs, the game was set for a finish that nobody could have imagined after the end of the first half of the chase.
In the end, Sunil Narine turned out to be too much for Maxwell who could get only 11 from the over as the Punjabis succumbed to another defeat in a losing run that has now extended to five games in a row.
Speaking in the post-match presentation ceremony, KKR captain Dinesh Karthik seemed visibly happy. Talking about his brilliant innings of 58 from 29, Karthik said, “McCullum is encouraging me to bat higher, though I always feel I bat better somewhere in the middle.”
“We have had these conversations, but in the end, I give him the credit for keeping me in a place where I can contribute to the team's success,” he added.
Andre Russell, one important all-rounder of the team got injured and Karthik as captain underscore his importance saying, “Whenever Russell gets injured, my heart is always in my mouth because he is a very key player for us. We need to look up at him and make sure he's okay.”
The Tamil Nadu born also praised Prasidh Krishna who bowled a brilliant 19th over to give Sunil Narine a very good chance at defending 14 off the last over. “Krishna is special, and is close to a spot for the India white-ball team,” he said.
“He has to make some adjustments but the way he bowled in the second spell shows why he is one of the better bowlers in India,” he added.
Sunil Narine has been under the scanner for quite some time. But today he proved that why Karthik and the Knight Riders rate him so highly. “I think Narine stands up for us all the time; he's always looking out for the team. A lot of credit goes to Morgan for having the world's best captain around. He keeps things very positive,” said Karthik.
Much like everyone else in the KKR vamp and their fan base, the 35-year-old captain too was expecting that the ball hit by Glenn Maxwell landed short so that they wouldn’t have to go through Super Over.
“I was hoping it would land just short, and that's exactly what ended up happening. Not easy to hit a shot over cover under pressure. But credit to the bowlers for finishing it really well with the ball,” he concluded.
Saying that it would be frustrating for the Kings XI skipper KL Rahul to come again and again in the post-match presentation and dwell upon the mistakes repeatedly is an understatement. And Rahul did give in finally saying, “I have no answers. Just have to keep coming hard in the next seven and win a few,” he said.
Rahul said that he was happy with the way the bowlers bowled. “We bowled well, it's the first game on this new strip, but the bowlers adapted well by swinging the ball early and getting wickets in the powerplay, which is the only way to keep them below 180.”
“Even in the death, they did well to mix it up, trying to bowl bouncers and bluff the batsmen with wide yorkers. That's what we asked of them and they executed well,” he added.
Lamenting on the fact that he was not able to finish the game, Rahul said that it wasn’t easy to get over the line after losing wickets in clusters.
“We weren't satisfied at any stage during the run-chase; you're only satisfied when you win. Me and Mayank started off well, but if you lose wickets in clusters at the end, it's hard to get over the line,” said the losing captain.
It was hard for anyone to digest the way Kings XI lost the game and that was evident in the comments by the experts as well. Veteran analyst and commentator, Harsha Bhogle while commenting on the game said that KKR and Sunil Narine must be given due credit for handling such a tough case that easily.
On the other hand, a veteran journalist from Kolkata, Gautam Bhattacharya, while praising the Kings XI bowlers raised questions on the team's decision to send Prabhsimran ahead of Maxwell.
Similar was the case with senior journalist and one of the most sought after cricket writers, Sambit Bal as he recounted many reasons for the Kings XI defeat, primary of them, which others forgo9t to mention, was the ambitious shot from Nicholas Pooran which triggered the mini-collapse that ultimately costed Kings XI the game.
Boria Majumdar, a senior cricket expert, usually known for his to the point opinions also pointed out the mistakes of the Kings management to send in young Prabhsimran ahead of Glenn Maxwell. At the same time, he also praised Prasidh Krishna for his brilliant bowling effort.
Gaurav Kalra, another senior journalist, mostly famous for his witty tweets was at it against saying that Kings XI finally manage to churn out a thriller from a game that deserved none.
While teams would be looking to avoid Kolkata getting in such a situation where they could defend 10 an over for five overs, for Punjab unfortunately, it seems like the end of the road even when the league hasn't reached it's halfway mark.
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