March 28, 2024

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KKR v KXIP : Batsmen Show

KKR v KXIP : Batsmen Show

KXIP won the toss and opted to bowl first. Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine opened the innings for KKR while Mohit Sharma started the bowling attack on a dry Indore wicket. The pitch was offering dual pace and Lynn was finding it hard to read the deliveries and got lucky twice in the same over when he hit consecutive inside edges off the ball, which resulted in consecutive boundaries. KKR were up to a slow start at 19/0 after 3 overs.
Rahman returned with his second over, but was sent back to the dugout due to an injury, when he came in the way of a powerful shot straight down the ground, while attempting a catch. Ashwin came in to bowl the rest of the over, and was welcomed with a maximum over covers. Chris Lynn hit another six off the first ball of the over to put the bowler under pressure. The very next ball caused an unlucky departure of Chris Lynn. KKR lost their first wicket and Robin Uthappa was the next man in.
Narine kept the scoreboard moving and KKR managed to put up a decent total of 59/1 in the first six overs.
Narine reached his fifty in the 9th over, requiring just 26 balls to achieve the feat. KKR was slowly building the momentum and stood at 93/1 after 9 overs.
The pitch was inconsistent with the pace wasn’t offering much of a turn. Narine continued the assault and hit Sran for another boundary and maximum in the same over. Narine wasn’t sparing anyone and went past his best score with a boundary, only to get caught behind the wickets on the next ball. Narine scored 75(36) allowing KKR to build on the foundation.
Andre Russell was next man in. Tye struck again, this time dismissing Robin Uthappa providing an easy catch at point. The skipper Dinesh Karthik came in to bat next. KKR stood at 130/3 after 12 overs with two new batsmen at the crease.
Russell hit two maximum in the over. KKR were quickly approaching a 200+ total. Mujeeb ur Rahman was back and Karthik welcomed him with a huge six. The injury seemed to have affected the accuracy of the young bowler and both the batsmen took full advantage of it. Rahman went for 21 runs. KKR were cruising at 190/3 after 16 overs.

Both the batsmen had settled on the crease and were scoring some quick runs. Some more power-hitting and KKR brought their 200 in the 17th over. Tye struck on the last ball of the over and Russell was sent back to the dugout. Nitish Rana came in to bat and started his innings with a maximum over long-on. KKR were clear with their strategy, score as many runs as possible on a wicket where teams chasing the target usually win the match. Only a massive total could have increased their chances at winning the match, who desperately needed a win to stay alive in the tournament. Nitish Rana went too aggressive, and threw his wicket away after playing just 4 deliveries. U-19 World Cup hero, Shubhman Gill was the next batsmen to come into bat. KKR looked to maximise and Karthik kept the scoreboard moving quickly, playing some unconventional reverse hits. He played a captain’s knock and reached his fifty in the 19th over facing just 22 balls. Shubhman Gill stuck to his wicket and finished the job for KKR, hitting consecutive boundaries. Searles also made his IPL debut memorable and hit the only ball he faced for a maximum. KKR posted gigantic total of 245/6 at the end of 20 overs. Some special effort was required on the part of KXIP to chase this total.

Gayle and K L Rahul started the chase while facing Sunil Narine in the first over. KXIP needed an extraordinary start to embark on a successful run chase. Gayle played it safe but Rahul straight away went after the bowler, hitting 2 consecutive sixes. Prasidh started the second over, and Rahul hit a first ball boundary. Prasidh made a comeback with quicker deliveries and offered just 4 more runs in the rest of the over. Javon Searles was brought into the attack in the third over. Gayle was taking his time and Rahul kept a check on the asking rate, going for boundaries at regular intervals. After warming up a bit, Gayle joined sliced the ball for a fine-leg boundary. KXIP were up to a decent start and stood at 36/0 after the first three overs.

Karthik brought Russell into the attack. Russell was struggling with a hamstring injury and didn’t have pace on the ball. Gayle was struggling with the shorter deliveries. Russell created another chance and Karthik didn’t make any mistakes this time. Gayle was back into the dugout. Mayank Agarwal was the next man on the crease and Russell surprised him with a bouncer. Mayank misfired and a simple catch towards on-side boundary caused his dismissal. KXIP were suddenly on the backfoot and KKR looked to be in the driving seat. KXIP finished their powerplay with 58 runs and losing 2 wickets in the process.
Karun Nair was the new man in. Rahul continued with the assault and went for 2 massive sixes. Rahul attempted another hit and the ball took an inside edge off the bat and creeped through to just dismantle the wickets. KXIP were struggling at 93/4 after 9 overs.
Axar Patel was the new batsman in. The middle-order of the KXIP was exposed and they needed some miracle to stay alive in the match. The asking rate was nearing 16.00 rpo. Kuldeep Yadav bowled the 12th over and Patel looked to accelerate and threw his wicket away. Ashwin came next to bat. Karthik continued with the spin attack and brought in Piyush Chawla into the attack. No big runs came in the over and the asking rate climbed up to 17.14 rpo. Kuldeep Yadav returned and Finch hit him for two consecutive sixes. KXIP was scoring at a decent rate of 10 runs per over, but it way below the required rate. Searles started the last over of his spell and just when Finch looked to change gears, he was dismissed while attempting a scoop shot.

Finch made Tye to come and hit some smashes. Andrew tye and Ashwin took the score near to the target. In the last over Tye and Captain lost their wickets. In the end KXIP were 114/8. KKR won by 31 runs. KKR again overtook MI and got the forth place. KXIP kept their NRR and remains at 3rd place.

It was a powerful match. Viewers enjoyed a lot.

“Ankit Vaishnav “

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