2 mistakes and 1 masterstroke by KKR in their IPL 2024 match vs DC
The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) continued their excellent start to IPL 2024 as they beat the Delhi Capitals (DC) by 106 runs in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday, April 3.
With three wins in as many games, the Knight Riders are comfortably poised atop the points table. They also significantly boosted their net run rate with their thumping victory and are in a good position ahead of their next game against the Chennai Super Kings.
Nevertheless, it wasn't a perfect performance from Kolkata. Shreyas Iyer and his men could've walked away with an even more comprehensive margin of victory, had their decision-making been slightly better.
Here are two mistakes and one masterstroke made by KKR in their IPL 2024 match against DC.
#3 Mistake - Kolkata let Delhi off the hook by bowling Venkatesh Iyer
It was understandable that Shreyas Iyer wanted to try out Venkatesh Iyer's bowling against DC. Harshit Rana had gone off with a shoulder injury, and the fast-bowling all-rounder has sent down a few overs at the IPL level before.
However, the timing of the decision was questionable. Eleven overs into the game, the Capitals were well behind the run-chase, with Rishabh Pant and Tristan Stubbs needing to tee off.
At that point, Shreyas should've kept Sunil Narine on from one end to force the DC batters to take a risk against the most dangerous bowler. Instead, he kept two overs of the West Indian for the back end of the innings and brought on Venkatesh, who was carted for 28 runs by Pant.
Had it happened later in the game, it would've been more acceptable, but at the time, bringing on Venkatesh wasn't the best idea.
#2 Masterstroke - KKR subbed in Vaibhav Arora
KKR's impact sub was always going to be either Vaibhav Arora or Suyash Sharma. While the latter offers an element of mystery and could've troubled the DC middle order, Kolkata went with the former to make the most of the powerplay, and the move paid off.
Vaibhav got the ball to move prodigiously into the right-hander. He dismissed Prithvi Shaw in his first over before adding the scalp of Abishek Porel towards the end of the powerplay.
Moreover, KKR ended up needing a pacer after Harshit Rana's shoulder injury, and it turned out be a good move in more ways than one. Vaibhav ended with three wickets, making his IPL 2024 debut an impressive outing.
#1 Mistake - Shreyas Iyer came to bat ahead of the likes of Rinku Singh
When Angkrish Raghuvanshi was dismissed in the 14th over, KKR had an incredible platform to tee off from. They had a rampaging Andre Russell at the crease and could've scored even more had they not sent in Shreyas Iyer at No. 5.
Shreyas ended up facing 11 balls for 18 runs and had the second-worst strike rate among the five KKR batters who faced at least 10 deliveries. Rinku Singh, Venkatesh Iyer and maybe even Ramandeep Singh should've been sent ahead of the Kolkata captain.
Shreyas has many talents, but power-hitting at the death from the outset, especially against fast bowlers, isn't one of them. It was perhaps a move with an eye on giving him some time in the middle, but from a tactical standpoint, it wasn't ideal.