Bowlers set it up for KKR in Ahmedabad

Kolkata Knight Riders after losing 4 matches in a row needed a change of fortunes when they met Punjab Kings yesterday in Ahmedabad. A change of venue was a good omen for them and it started well with Eoin Morgan winning the toss. For Punjab Kings, it has been a topsy turvy season with 2 wins and 3 losses thus far. Looking at KKR’s performance they must have been silently confident in winning their third match of the season. 

But as IPL has shown us over the years things hardly go according to script and that’s exactly what happened yesterday with KKR coming out trumps and in the process improved their Net Run Rate too.

Let’s look at the hits and misses from yesterday’s match.

The Hits:

Prasidh Krishna has had a very underwhelming IPL 2021 thus far. He was going for a lot of runs and mostly due to the length that he had been bowling. Yesterday he was quite conscious of that and kept the ball just short of length not allowing the batsmen to free their arms. This not only helped him to keep the boundaries at bay but it also helped him to pick up 3 wickets. It was his best performance this year and I hope he remains consistent for the rest of the season. 

Shivam Mavi has yet to fire for KKR. His economy rate is high and he doesn’t take wickets too. KKR has invested a lot of time in the three young bowlers, Prasidh, Mavi, and Nagarkoti and it was time for them to return the favour. Mavi bowled well in the last match and he continued in the same fashion yesterday too. The biggest plus has been that he is not going for runs which means he is controlling his length and line to perfection. You need a bit of luck when it comes to wickets but that will come if you remain consistent. Yesterday he went for just 19 runs in 4 overs and took the wicket of Chris Gayle too. He bowled three overs in the power play so I must admit that it was a great bowling performance. I hope like Prasidh Krishna it works as a confidence booster for him and I look forward to him taking a few wickets in the upcoming matches.

At 17/3, KKR’s chase looked doomed. Yes, the target was only 124 runs but the KKR middle order had hardly scored any runs in the earlier matches. One man who has been somewhat consistent is Rahul Tripathi. He along with Eoin Morgan set out building a match-winning partnership yesterday. It was heartening to see Morgan back in form. He struggled with his timing but as the innings progressed he seemed to be getting his confidence back. An in-form Morgan can make a huge difference to KKR and the team can hope that it’s the start of some big scores in the future. Some dodgy running kept the viewers’ pulse racing but the useful 40s by both these batsmen took KKR home yesterday.

I was highly surprised when I kept seeing Ravi Bishnoi on the bench in the first 4 matches. He is an extremely talented bowler and I believe he has the best Googly among all contemporary Indian leg spinners. Punjab Kings got him in the playing XI in their last match and he had an impact straight away. Yesterday with heavy dew in the ground I thought he might struggle but how wrong was I. He gave away just 19 runs in his 4 overs. Though he didn’t pick up any wickets he could have easily had a couple because on many occasions the batsmen were unable to read his googlies properly. His moment of the match came in the field though when he pulled off an absolutely stunning catch to dismiss Sunil Naraine. 

The Misses :

Shubhman Gill and Nitish Rana found another innovative way to get out yesterday thereby extending their bad form. Rana guided a slow full toss to the short extra cover fielder while Gill missed a straight delivery playing across the line. It has been a very disappointing performance from Gill in this tournament and I find it hard to understand the reason. Cricket is played a lot in the mind and I think this extended run of low scores is now playing in his mind. He is playing well in the nets as per David Hussey so I guess he is just one innings away from getting his form back. KKR must be hoping that he gets there quickly.

KL Rahul is not playing to his strengths and I guess it’s better for him to come at number 4 going forward. He struggled as an opener in the T20 series against England and it’s been an extension of sorts in IPL. He got back to run making form against England when he was pushed down the order. It won’t be a bad idea to try that in IPL too. In Chris Gayle, they have a ready-made opener so it won’t harm the team at all if he plays at number 4. His struggle at the top is harming the team because the momentum needs to be built in the power play which Punjab Kings is unable to do. 

Nicholas Pooran is having a very bad tournament thus far. With the intensity lacking in the power plays it’s becoming troublesome for Punjab Kings in the middle overs with Pooran completely out of form. Yesterday he had the opportunity to build a long innings but he failed again. I think it won’t be a bad idea to replace him with Dawid Malan from the next match.

Pat Cummins had made a habit of taking wickets in the power play when the tournament was held in UAE last year. This season it has been completely different and he has been struggling with his length and line. Yesterday he did pick the wicket of KL Rahul in the power play but his line and length was not consistent enough. Punjab Kings scored 123 runs and Cummins gave away 31 of them. That’s a pretty ordinary economy rate considering the Punjab batsmen were struggling against all the bowlers. KKR needs Cummins to pick up wickets and till the time that happens they will keep struggling.

What to look forward to?

I think Punjab Kings need to make some changes in their batting order. Just trying to improve balance and picking Moises Henriques doesn’t make sense and it’s not working for them too. Here is my preferred playing XI for the next match.

Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Dawid Malan, KL Rahul, Shahrukh Khan, Deepak Hooda, Chris Jordan, Jhye Richardson, MD. Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh.

For KKR the win gets them back to the middle of the table but problems remain at the top of the order. They have too many players who are slow movers in the field and I think they need a change in the top order. I think they should replace Nitish Rana with Venkatesh Iyer. Also, it makes sense to open with Naraine and push Gill to number 3.

What do you think? Will the number 3 position suit Gill better or should he continue opening for KKR?

Do write in as we await the blockbuster match of the season when RCB meets Delhi Capitals later in the evening!

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