Kolkata Knight Riders’ Ryan ten Doeschate and Andre Russell stole the show with their stunning half-centuries and powered the reigning Indian Premier League champions to a thrilling three wickets win over the Chennai Super Kings in the Champions League T20 opener.
However, when the Super Kings were running away with the game, after put into bat, the spinners helped Knight Riders to crawl back into the contest.
Sunil Narine, Piyush Chawla and Yusuf Pathan knotted the CSK batsmen and restricted them to a mere total, after a scorching start.
Narine was the pick of the bowlers, as he only gave away nine runs in four overs and took one wicket, while Pathan also chipped in with one. Leg-spinner Piyush, however, finished with two wickets and was also on an economical side.
The KKR bowlers bowled in tandems and never allowed any CSK partnership to flourish. Piyush insisted that bowling with West Indies spinner Narine helps at times as he creates pressure from one end.
“Bowling with him does help at times, like it did today,” Chawla said. “He bowled four overs and gave away only nine runs. That took the pressure off me at the other end.”
“However, sometimes, it also works the other way,” he added. “Batsmen will often look to play Sunil out and that means I would be their hitting target. It does give you a better chance to pick wickets but also increases your chances of being clobbered.”
Meanwhile, the Knight Riders are to play all games at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium and Piyush insisted that playing at a same venue will fall to their advantage.
“In a short tournament like this, it is a good advantage if you’re playing all your league games at one venue,” he said. “It gives you the chance to get used to the conditions and the wicket and enables you to plan your strategies in a better way. It also saves you from the hectic traveling.”
