After six games in the competition thus far, Kolkata Knight Riders are still comfortably seated in second place.
The Indian Premier League 2024’s thirty-first game took place at the Eden Gardens between Kolkata Knight Riders and the table-topping Rajasthan Royals. With the top two teams in the Indian Premier League standings meeting tonight in the City of Joy, the game was sure to be thrilling. With the intention of using the dew in the second half of the game, the away team won the toss and chose to bowl first.
Sunil Narine, the overseas all-rounder for Kolkata Knight Riders, had a fantastic innings. While enjoying a lot of luck today, the opener made the most of his reprieves, smashing his first tournament century. In just 20 overs, the hosts amassed a formidable 223/6 thanks in large part to his innings.
The Rajasthan Royals’ opening batsmen responded by scoring runs quickly and reaching the needed run rate. Despite taking three wickets between them, Indian pacers Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora were not economical. After taking two wickets in his three overs, Sunil Narine once again proved to be a magician.
Jos Buttler, on the other hand, prevented the hosts from winning as he maintained the strike at one end and the runs flowing. The English hitter ensured his team was not out even though the Royals lost a lot of wickets. His outstanding century in the last chase over ensured his team would take the two points away from home. The Rajasthan Royals ultimately defeated the Kolkata Knight Riders by a margin of two wickets.
The following three adjustments are necessary for the Kolkata Knight Riders to resume their winning ways:
- Appalling death bowling
The other side featured one of the biggest game-winning players, so it’s possible that Kolkata Knight Riders became complacent at the end and forgot about them. The hosts were only able to take two wickets in the final overs of the second innings, giving up 62 runs. Trent Boult was run out for one of the two wickets, and spinner Sunil Narine claimed the other one.
Since Mitchell Starc was unable to capture a wicket in this intense match, the pacers, in particular, have a lot of issues to answer. His penultimate over saw him give up 18 runs, five wides, and 50 runs in four overs.
- Subpar fielding
In addition to the dew in the second innings, the Eden Gardens outfield is renowned for being among the quickest in India, which makes it challenging for players to control the ball. Nonetheless, in a competition of this caliber, fielding need to be excellent, and had the hosts performed better in that area today, they would have secured the two points.
Fielding also requires having a keen sense of the game, which was absent in the last over. The ball went right to Mitchell Starc on the penultimate delivery of the match, and he took some time to return it. In addition, had he tossed the ball to the end opposite the striker,
- Venkatesh Iyer’s awful form
While there is no denying that Venkatesh Iyer’s form has declined in this edition of the competition, it may also be due to the range of positions he has batted in. The team’s power hitters were put ahead of him because of the openers’ outstanding start, which allowed him to face very few balls today.
Iyer was lowered in the batting order in part because of Angkrish Raghuvanshi’s ascent. The all-rounder might be benched in favor of Nitish Rana if he is cleared to play. Maybe they can play a more attacking player in the lower middle order if the club management chooses to give him a call.
