IPL 2021 | KKR vs PBKS: What Experts said as clinical Kolkata punish listless Punjab

It was finally a change in fortunes for the Kolkata Knight Riders as they ended their four-match losing streak with a convincing win against Punjab Kings to move away from the bottom of the points table. With this five-wicket win, the team has now moved up to the fifth position in the table with an equal number of points as fourth-placed Mumbai Indians, albeit with an extra match played. 

Eoin Morgan, the skipper was right on the money in the chase of a modest 124 on a more than decent wicket at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad’s Motera. The Englishman walked in with KKR in all sorts of trouble at 17-3. Showing exemplary character and determination, he built a 66-run stand with Rahul Tripathi to get the team out of the shackles. 

Even after two quick wickets of Tripathi and Andre Russell, he kept on going to make sure that the team crosses the hurdle once and for all, which it did in the 17th over. 

Captains' Viewpoints

Speaking after the victory, Morgan said that wins have been hard to come by and thus this one is a special one. “[We] Have worked incredibly hard. Today, along with a bit of luck, the performance was very impressive, particularly with the ball up front.”

The Irish born then went on to praise the young fast bowler Shivam Mavi for his fearless bowling. Saying that it was only the second game of the season for the 22-year-old who picked up the important wicket of Chris Gayle, Morgan lauded him. “The match-up against Gayle was favourable. He bowled well in the last game and started well here. For him to make an impact is a huge credit to him,” he added. 

Enlisting the advantage of having wrist spinners, or spinners that rely on variation rather than the help from the wicket, the 34-year-old skipper said, “The advantage we have over most spinners is that our spinners are variation bowlers. They don't rely on drift and turn. They control their lengths well and rely on a tiny amount of turn and today they were exceptional.” 

Morgan, who scored unbeaten 47, which is also his highest score this season hoped that this win could kickstart something great for the team. Acknowledging the fact that the conditions all around the world and especially in India are not well with respect to the pandemic, the KKR captain urged people to follow the protocols and stay safe. 

“When you consider the horrific nature of what's happening outside the bubble, we try and lend our support and encouragement for everything that's going on not only in India but around the world. If you're going out, wear a mask, social distance. We've seen first hand at home how devastating it can be," he concluded. 

KL Rahul, the losing skipper was at a loss of words to describe the horrific batting performance that his team put up, especially after an ideal match that it had with the bat in the very previous game. 

“It is never nice to be on the losing side. Don't know what to say. We should have adapted better. We could have applied a lot more with the bat. Expect the boys to be smarter,” said Rahul. 

The 29-year-old then went on to lament the soft dismissals, including his own saying, “Some soft dismissals have cost us the game.” 

The wicket-keeper captain also called the pitch two-paced which got better with dew settling in. “It was a bit two-paced. Kept a little up-down. Was tough to assess what are the high-risk shots here,” he said. 

The Karanataka born hope that the team would bounce back from this as is characteristic of a very good team. “It is expected of good teams to adapt quicker. We need to keep our heads higher and keep trying,” he said. 

Ravi Bishnoi, the leg spinner who removed Sunil Narine with a stunner of a catch at deep square leg was also praised by the skipper. “Bishnoi's catch was stunning. Especially when you have a coach like Jonty Rhodes, he puts us to tough tests and sees how every boy reacts. The training rubs on during match situations. Hopefully, we can keep building and get better,” Rahul said. 

Expert Opinion

The experts were of the opinion that the Punjab team could not muster the courage and application to bat out on a difficult wicket and thus remained 20-25 run short of what could have been a challenging total. 

Ayaz Memon, the veteran journalist called the pitch sluggish but also blamed the approach of the Punjab batters on the same wicket. 

To present a contrasting picture of how KKR approached the game on the same wicket, Ayaz then went on to praise the captaincy and batting of Knight Riders' skipper Eoin Morgan. 

Ben Jones, the Australian cricket expert, in a way of mocking the Punjab Kings think tank for playing Moises Henriques as an all-rounder instead of pure batsman brought in stats that suggested how wrong the Punjab Kings approach towards Henriques has been. 

Gaurav Kalra, a veteran TV journalist has been featuring in our expert’s pieces, but generally for his witty content. Today though, he tried to enhance the importance of Gayle’s wicket in Shivam Mavi’s spell today. 

But if Gurav was not providing us with the fun content, Aakash Chopra, the cricketer turned pundit of the game, made sure that we were not devoid of it with his attempted wordplay on Nicholas Pooran’s miserable run of form in the tournament so far. 

The two teams would now face two different opponents, with Punjab Kings lining up to take on Royal Challengers Bangalore while KKR would face the in-form Delhi Capitals in their next clash. Both these matches would take place at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad only.