Kolkata Knight Riders are back to winning ways with a brilliant 6 wicket victory over Punjab Kings at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. After a close defeat in the last outing against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Shreyas Iyer’s men were looking to bounce back. KKR won the toss, elected to field and restricted PBKS to 137. Apart from a 9 ball 31 run cameo by Bhanuka Rajapaksa in the powerplay and a 16 ball 25 by Kagiso Rabada, no batter could really stand in front of the KKR bowling attack. Coming on to chase, the KKR top-order also collapsed as they were 51/4 within 7 overs.
Eventually, the Russell storm was about to happen as the Jamaican all-rounder started to dominate. His unbeaten 31-ball 70 helped KKR chase down the total and get a big win with 33 balls to spare.
Let’s look at the major talking points from the PBKS Vs KKR game –
Umesh Yadav is playing in a league of his own –
The 34-year-old pacer is only getting better with his age it seems. There was not a single franchise in the auction that bid for him before KKR got his signature at his base price. Umesh Yadav is looking to be back home after 5 years and giving his best shot in Purple colours. He picked up PBKS skipper Mayank Agarwal in the very first over with the fastest delivery of the game. Not only that, he picked up wickets in every spell and ended with the figures of 4/23. It is now 8 wickets from the first three games for him which has earned him the Purple cap.
“Need to keep working hard. Am getting older and when you know when you play just one format, I look to bowl as much as possible. When someone improves at practice, they do well during the match as well. Whatever is happening now, has been because of what I have practised with the coaches who have supported me.” – Umesh Yadav said in the post-match presentation.
Rahul Chahar’s double-wicket maiden–
Chasing a total of 137, KKR looked favourite to do it comfortably until Rahul Chahar puts the break on it. His double-wicket maiden got PBKS back into the game somehow as KKR’s top order collapsed within the 7th over. But unfortunately, there was no support from the other end for Chahar as the pressure that he built was not capitalized.
The former Mumbai Indians spinner has looked really good so far in this tournament. He will be hoping that he can continue to deliver in the same way for the rest of the tournament.
The Andre Russell show in PBKS Vs KKR –
The big-hitting Jamaican came on to the scene when KKR were 51/4 and the target of 138 looked very far from there. He started blocking and put in a solid defence in the first few deliveries before getting into his real mood. It was indeed the calm before the storm. He finished the game literally single-handedly with an unbeaten 31 ball 70, some innings that. He is now also holding the orange cap. Russell said that other than Chahar, no other PBKS spinner was spinning the ball and he had to attack.
“Good to have someone at the crease like Sam who can rotate and help us stick through the tough time. Once I started sweating, I just said that I am gonna go. Backed my ability and that’s what I did tonight. I am happy to bring the team over the line.”
“Knew we were the two guys who will definitely look to get a partnership. Told Sam, ‘listen, let us just bat a few overs and see what happens.’ But we had to attack earlier because the left-arm orthodox was not spinning the ball. So, nothing was happening.
“Decided to take charge from one end. Was looking to get singles from the other end. Chahar was bowling extremely well. The ball was gripping as well. We did not want to take much chance against him. Knew it would get easier. Am going to say one (when asked how many he got off the middle).”
“Happy to do whatever the team requires. Am looking to bowl in the death overs. If the captain wants me to bowl one in the powerplay, more than happy to do that but we have a good amount of bowlers. We have a few guys that can actually chip in one or two as well.
“In some games, I know I will not be bowling four. But if at least I bowl two overs, can feel a part of the game. Feel like an all-rounder. These things do happen, some games it is gonna be easy and I may not bowl a ball.”
