Still put it down as a victory
Knight Riders overcome shoddy catching to hand another defeat to Kings XI, go to the top of points table
KOLKATA: Youtube produces 5,650 results when you type ‘catches win matches’; google takes half a second to throw up about 1,81,000 video results. Now that KKR have taken the top slot, and almost secured a playoff berth after Andre Russell and Yusuf Pathan made the target of 184 runs look modest at Eden Gardens on Sunday, they could perhaps watch some of those videos and apply it in their game.
That KXIP never had the bowlers, especially spinners, to defend even 200 is not the point. Giving five lives to the openers can’t be good for a team hoping to win their third title. The first chance was difficult though, skipper Gautam Gambhir at short extra-cover getting a hand to an uppish drive from Murali Vijay. Then it was Brad Hogg’s turn to drop Vijay.
Umesh Yadav then made Hogg’s miss look pardonable. This time the ball went straight to Yadav at short fine-leg but the India pacer juggled several times before grassing it. Vijay was finally dismissed in the same over but by then he had provided the impetus KXIP utilised well in the middle overs.
Manan Vohra, Vijay’s opening partner, was fortunate too. There seemed no end to the misery for bowler Andre Russell. In the space of five balls he saw Vohra being dropped by ‘keeper Robin Uthappa followed by a shocker by Yusuf Pathan. The spilt catches allowed Punjab to reach the 10-over mark without losing much ground.
BIG BLOWS
Glenn Maxwell stitched a 50-run partnership with Wriddhiman Saha in 24 balls. Luckily for KKR, not all players had forgotten catching. Once Johan Botha caught Maxwell at deep midwicket, Narine started making an impact. He stuck to the basics and fielded well off his own bowling, returning a standout 4/19. Chawla went for plenty but there were times when he made scoring tough by giving more flight or using the width of the crease.
Punjab were hoping KKR would wilt under the pressure of chasing the solid target. They managed to make a match out of it by catching everything that came their way. Russell’s dismissal may not have been an eye-catcher, but Saha quietly showed once again what a talent he is behind the wicket.
It could have been a turning point, but Punjab never had the bowling to drive home the advantage and Chawla, with the bat, showed all’s still well with KKR. But in the heart of hearts they would know catching needs urgent repairs.