When KKR whipped up a hurricane, got caught in it
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) struck to a method even when it seemed madness to do so. Such rigidity against Mumbai Indians (MI), who were here without six regulars, on Saturday made the wheels come off when they were overspeeding.
Chasing 174, KKR whipped up a hurricane that produced a battery of big hits but yielded nothing.
Blowing up the chance to be second in the standings after the league phase of IPL10, the Knights now know that nothing short of winning all three remaining games will help them add a third star on their purple and gold shirts.
Skipper Gautam Gambhir said it seemed at one point that KKR were trying to win in 10 overs. He was right. Problem was, Gambhir may have been guilty of starting it. After Tim Southee bowled a wicket-maiden first over, Gambhir and Chris Lynn had got to 41/1 after 4.3 overs. Lynn had given indications of another lynching, hitting two sixes and a four off Southee. KKR were ahead of the required rate and yet Gambhir fell for the bait when Mitchell Johnson banged one in.
Even then, Lynn ensured Johnson leaked 14 runs in that over but for the second time since returning from injury, Robin Uthappa didn’t put a prize on his wicket. And when Lynn fell two balls later, KKR slumped from 53/2 to 53/4.
Perhaps weighed down by the number of dot balls in their last match, Yusuf Pathan played a blinder when consolidation, of the kind he and Manish Pandey had produced away to Delhi Daredevils, was needed.
Pathan went after a seven-ball 20 and KKR were 87/5 after nine on a wicket, Mumbai Indians’ opener Saurabh Tiwary said, that had got easier to bat on. After 12 overs, KKR were 21 ahead of MI but had lost three more wickets.
“First of all, we didn’t bat well enough…we were a little off the mark,” said KKR’s opening bowler Trent Boult who returned after nine games. “But Mumbai Indians too bowled pretty well on a wicket that was slightly two-paced. The luxury of bowling second also means you can pressure the opposition, click wickets and make it hard for them to chase a decent total.” players’ union called on Cricket Australia Sunday to mediate over intractable wage negotiations instead of threatening not to pay their stars.
The governing body late last week threatened not to pay contracted players beyond June 30 unless the proposed remuneration overhaul was accepted. Cricket Austarlia chief executive James Sutherland demanded the players accept the offer in a blunt email, as the impasse with the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) looked no closer to resolution.
The latest flare-up casts doubt on what team Australia could field after June 30, with a two-Test series scheduled in August in Bangladesh ahead of a home Ashes showdown with England later in the year.
The ACA’s chief executive Alistair Nicholson criticised CA’s “incoherence and aggression” in the negotiations.
“Clearly, we are disappointed that CA are threatening the players,” Nicholson said in a statement. “It’s also a window into the nature of CA’s behaviour in these negotiations so far.
“There is incoherence and aggression in what we have experienced at the negotiating table from CA.”
Nicholson said this was shown by Cricket Australia’s attempts last week to offer some top players multi-year deals only to threaten them the following day. “However, despite these
We didn’t bat well enough…we were a little off the mark. MI bowled well on a slightly twopaced wicket.