Nothing seems to have changed since last year, when it comes to a battle between the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Kings XI Punjab. It’s mostly KKR, who end up on the winning side. You can also say that the KKR almost did a repeat show of last year’s IPL final. If the final tie was won with a three wicket margin, KKR had the better of the Kings by four wickets this time.
Barring Kings’ captain George Bailey and Glenn Maxwell, none of their batsmen showed the grit to stay at the crease, something which Andre Russell did with the bat. He played a match-winning knock towards the end and reduced the match into one-sided affair.
Russell’s performance showed KKR has the depth to match the best teams like the Chennai Super Kings and the Rajasthan Royals. The best part about this Kolkata team is that they back their players all time. Even when they lose, the team management doesn’t indulge in knee-jerk reactions. They have a judicious way of approaching things.
The Kings too have the same kind of dressing room atmosphere. But the surprising bit is the way they are losing matches one after other in their so called home turf. This was their third loss in Pune, their second home for this year’s IPL. From here, they will have to be at the top of their game to come back in the contention.
True, it’s also too early to predict who will stand where at the end of the league stage, but by losing such games from strong positions is not at all a good sign for any team. And, the Kings are no different. In other words, they have some serious job to do if they are keen to repeat their last year’s performance.
