XtraTime Web Desk: The long awaited gamble finally paid off for Kolkata Knight Riders when they faced Chennai Super Kings in the 21st match of this year’s Indian Premier League.
Winning the toss, KKR decided to bat first, something which they didn’t do for 69 games. Here comes the gamble. Rahul Tripathi then came to open along with Shubman Gill and played a superb innings. With 4 fours and 3 sixes in the innings, Tripathi scored 81 runs in 51 balls. Other members of the squad didn’t even cross the 20 run mark. After the completion of 20th over, KKR finished on 167 runs and lost all the wickets. Bravo took 3 wickets for CSK while Shardul Thakur, Sam Curran and Karn Sharma took 2 each.
Chennai had a flying start in the second innings. They were 99 for 2 in the 12th over and had things under control but then Narine changed the game for Kolkata. Bowling 4 overs, Narine gave away 31 runs but took the important wicket of Shane Watson who got out on 50. Rayudu scored 30 of 27 balls but lost his wicket soon. Andre Russell’s death overs proved crucial in the end however Jadeja tried in the end with 21 runs in 8 balls but wasn’t enough as KKR won the match by 10 runs.
Rahul Tripathi was a very happy man at the post match presentation ceremony. He swept all the awards and specially the Man of the Match award. Speaking in the post match conference, Tripathi said, “It is a dream come true for me. (Playing in front of Shah Rukh Khan)”.
Tripathi was seen batting lower down the order but was sent to open today by the captain. Speaking about his preparations, Tripathi said, “I was prepared for both the roles. Wherever you get the opportunity, you have to be prepared.”
Speaking about his innings, Rahul said, “I just thought the ball was coming on nicely so I just felt we should keep the runs coming”. He ended the conversation by saying, “I have loved this journey. Coming to KKR is special.”
There were too many questions with Dinesh Karthik’s captaincy. He took some decisions that looked ‘strange’ in the eyes of the experts. Like, Sunil Narine was sent in after losing their 2nd wicket and was given me the bowl for the first time in the 12th over. Speaking about his decisions, Karthik said, “There are some key players. Sunil Narine is one of us. The least we can do is back him. I am really proud of him as a player. We thought we will ease Sunny’s pressure a little bit and send Rahul up.”
Speaking about the fluidity in KKR’s batting line-up, Karthik said, “Our batting is very fluid. I started at 3, I am batting at 7. That is the good thing. Over the years fluid line-ups have dine better.”
Speaking about the positives for KKR, Karthik said, “The way they batted at the start they did really well, but at the back end I had great faith in Sunny and Varun. That paid off for me.”
MS Dhoni in the post match conference cleared where his team went wrong. He said, “In the middle overs, there was a phase when they bowled two-three good overs. Then we lost wickets. If our batting was different during that period, the result would have been different. Initially we gave away a few too many with the new ball.”
Dhoni appreciated the bowlers but wants his batsmen to deliver as well. “Karn did really well. The bowlers did well to bring them down to 160, but the batsmen let the bowlers down. There were no boundaries in the end, and you have to be slightly innovative in these scenarios. If someone is bowling just back of a length, you have to find a way to hit boundaries.”