IPL 2021: Brian Lara slams KKR's batting collapse against MI
Brian Lara has criticized the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) following their loss from a winning position against the Mumbai Indians. The former West Indies cricketer slammed the KKR batsmen for being careless in the IPL 2021 fixture on Wednesday.
Despite seemingly having the game in control, Kolkata lost to Mumbai. KKR needed just 40 runs from 36 balls and had seven wickets in hand. But a series of reckless shots derailed the Kolkata-based franchise's chase in no time, with the Eoin Morgan-led team eventually losing the game by 10 runs.
Brian Lara, who dissected KKR’s unbelievable batting collapse on Star Sports, accused the Kolkata Knight Riders batsman of being careless in their approach.
“You can’t be like ‘okay, we got a good start, let's just steamroll this opposition'. You have got to play sensible cricket. You have got to see which bowlers are potent on this track and the spinners are. The leg-spinner getting left-handers out, that’s not normal. That’s supposed to be the right match-up for a batsman. But he got them all out because they played carelessly,” said Lara.
Chasing 153 on a turning Chepauk track, KKR started brilliantly, scoring 45 in the powerplay overs. Nitish Rana and Shubman Gill were well set as KKR looked on course for a routine victory.
But their batting unit crumbled after the openers departed, with Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan, and Shakib Al Hasan lasting just 21 balls in total. Brian Lara felt the KKR batsmen were in a hurry to wrap up the game and didn’t read the conditions correctly.
“The pressure piled on. It’s a slow track. It’s not a track where you can walk in and play your shots. You have got to take your time. A 145 is the average score in Chepauk. You have got to take that into consideration,” Lara explained.
Brian Lara credits MI bowlers for stunning win over KKR
While KKR certainly shot themselves in the foot on Wednesday, the MI bowlers were in top form as well. They didn't get bogged down by a poor start, with Krunal Pandya and Rahul Chahar choking the opposition brilliantly. The duo finished with combined figures of 8-0-40-5, as they ran through KKR’s top-order.
Even Rohit Sharma bowled in the IPL for the first time since 2014, as the pitch aided the slower bowlers. The courageous effort of the spinners gave the pacers enough runs to defend at the death, and Brian Lara had no doubts about who should be credited for MI's sensational win.
"Mumbai Indians won it because they had the right bowlers at the right time. Even Rohit’s over. He bowled an over where he got an under-edge. They played smart cricket. If even they had lost at the end, they played the best they could. Credit must be given to Mumbai for going out there and putting that plan together and taking it right down to the end,” Lara concluded.
KKR, who have now lost 22 out of the 28 games they have played versus MI in the IPL, are winless against the five-time champions since 2019.