IPL 2019, KKR vs KXIP: 3 mistakes that cost KXIP the game
In 6th match of IPL 2019, Kolkata Knight Riders hosted Kings XI Punjab at The Eden Gardens. KXIP skipper Ravichandran Ashwin won the toss and decided to bowl first on a very good pitch.
KXIP made four changes to the team while KKR fielded the same line-up.
The hosts started off quite brightly. Even though Chris Lynn went early, Sunil Narine played a brilliant cameo to help kick-start the innings on an explosive note.
After the fall of both openers, Nitish Rana and Robin Uthappa struck a solid partnership together. Rana played a wonderful knock, and after his dismissal Andre Russell carried on from where he had left vs SRH.
Russell's death overs onslaught got KKR to an imposing 218.
Punjab's hopes of chasing down the score depended heavily on their openers KL Rahul and Chris Gayle. But Rahul got out on 1 and Gayle couldn't make a significant contribution either.
From there on, it was always going to be very hard for KXIP. Even though Mayank Agarwal and David Miller played good knocks, the target proved to be too steep. In the end, they fell short by 28 runs and KKR registered their 2nd consecutive victory.
Here are three mistakes committed by KXIP that cost them the match:
1) Introducing Varun Chakravarthy in the powerplay
Varun Chakravarthi had made a name for himself from Tamil Nadu Premier League. He was superb in the tournament and earned some big bucks in the IPL auction.
Varun was making his debut today and was introduced in the 2nd over of the innings itself. He was bowling to Lynn and Narine, which was a huge challenge for a rookie.
His first ball was alright but it all went downhill after that. He bowled either too full and in the arc of Narine, or too short. Narine took full advantage of Varun's inexperience and smashed 3 sixes and a four off him.
Varun went for 25 runs in his first over.
He came back very well in his next 2 overs, going for only 10 runs in his next two overs and picking up a wicket as well. But the initial avalanche of runs he conceded handed too much of an initiative to KKR.
Varun was very new to the tournament and wasn't experienced enough. The powerplay overs are hard for spinners to bowl in, and Ashwin should have opted for a seamer or an experienced spinner instead of the debutant at that stage.
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