"We were a bit clueless about what to do at that point of time" - Shreyas Iyer on KKR's bowling effort against DC's blazing start in IPL 2022
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Shreyas Iyer admitted it was difficult for his side to get into the game once Delhi Capitals (DC) got off to a stellar start. The two-time champions conceded 215 in the first innings at the Brabourne Stadium.
Despite Shreyas Iyer's valiant fifty, KKR fell well short of the mammoth target and suffered their second defeat in IPL 2022.
DC scored 215 on the back of fifties from openers Prithvi Shaw and David Warner. The explosive duo scored 68 runs in the powerplay and shared 93 for the first wicket.
bit.ly/TATAIPL-2022-19A superb win for @DelhiCapitals! 👏 👏
The @RishabhPant17-led unit bounce back in style and they beat #KKR by 4️⃣4️⃣ runs. 👍 👍
Scorecard ▶️ bit.ly/TATAIPL-2022-19
#TATAIPL | #KKRvDC https://t.co/iRM9fVPXna
Admitting that it was difficult to halt DC's momentum following their strong start, Iyer said during the post-match presentation:
"They got off to a really good start right from the first over. Prithvi took on the bowlers and to be honest, we were a bit clueless about what to do at that point of time.
"The wicket was playing really good and they built a good partnership at the start and carried on the momentum till the 10th over. So, it was really difficult to restrict the runs and it really changed the momentum."
KKR tried to pull things back following Narine's exceptional spell of 2/21 on a solid batting surface. However, cameos from Axar Patel and Shardul Thakur pushed DC's total out of KKR's grasp.
What an over this has been! 🙌 🙌
@imkuldeep18 scalps three wickets in an over. 👏 👏
#KKR 143/8.
Follow the match ▶️ bit.ly/TATAIPL-2022-19
#TATAIPL | #KKRvDC https://t.co/g2BUJzdnIB
Terming the surface at Brabourne as a good batting surface, Iyer said:
"It looked like a good batting pitch. That's what we have been striving on from the first game by chasing. That was the decision we made (to bowl first). It just didn't work out today."
It is worth noting that all of KKR's wins this season have come from successful run chases.
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"The positives we can take is the intent we showed from ball one" - Shreyas Iyer
KKR fell into trouble early in the run chase. The opening pair of Venkatesh Iyer and Ajinkya Rahane failed to click once again and were both back in the pavilion by the time the powerplay ended.
Despite the setback, Shreyas Iyer took the responsibility of accelerating the innings in the middle overs.
Speaking of the positives that KKR can take from the 44-run loss, the 27-year-old said:
"The positives we can take is the intent we showed from ball one, even if we didn't get off to a great start. The middle phase we played out really well and after that, we wanted to continue with the run rate of 12 per over."
Shreyas Iyer concluded:
"It's not a difficult thing to do as batters but if we pace out our innings really well in the middle overs, that's something we can take forward from hereon."
According to the IPL 2022 schedule, KKR will next take on Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the same venue on April 15 (Friday).