On Wednesday night, the hosts Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) suffered a humiliating defeat by 102 runs against Mumbai Indians (MI) at Eden Gardens (Kolkata).
KKR captain Dinesh Karthik decided to field first after winning the toss. MI batsmen performed very well in the first innings as they put a big total of 210/6 at the end of 20 overs.
In reply, KKR batsmen totally surrendered in the front of MI bowlers as they were bowled out for just 108 runs in 18.1 overs.
Now, we will briefly talk about some important reasons for KKR’s defeat in this game.
Also read: (KKR vs MI) – Turning Point of the Match
Bowlers were hardly consistent in the second half of MI innings
While MI was 72/2 in 10 overs, their final total was 210/6 (20 overs). It means KKR bowlers conceded total 138 runs in the last ten overs which clearly shows that how poor the KKR bowlers in the second half of MI innings. There were only two overs in the last ten overs where KKR bowlers conceded less than 10 runs.
The picture is clearly showing that how MI batsmen dominated against the KKR bowlers in the second half of their innings as the fate of the match had been decided in that part. KKR bowlers continuously struggled with their line and length in that period and that became very costly for the team.
Ishan Kishan knock
19-year-old left-handed wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan smashed the KKR bowlers in his short innings as he scored 62 runs off just 21 balls. He completed his half-century in just 17 balls which is the joint fastest IPL half-century by an MI batsman. In his entire thrashing knock, Ishan hit 5 fours and 6 sixes. His best moment in that innings was the 14th over when he hit four consecutive sixes to left-arm chinaman Kuldeep Yadav.
His innings set the big momentum for the visitors which the next batsmen utilised perfectly.
Conceded 22 runs in the last over (Cutting storm)
It hit on KKR’s confidence level when MI scored 22 runs in the final over of their innings. Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla bowled that over where Ben Cutting hit two sixes and one four and Krunal Pandya hit another six in the last ball.
In that final period, Ben Cutting played a stormy knock as he scored 29 runs off just 9 balls. These things helped MI to put a huge total on the board which proved too much for KKR.
Also read: Match 41 (KKR vs MI) – Hits and Flops
Batsmen threw their wickets
Chasing down a big target of 211 runs, KKR batsmen literally threw their wickets which shut down their last hope to make some fight-back in the game. While many batsmen had poor shot selections, Chris Lynn and skipper Dinesh Karthik were run-out due to the poor understanding with their partners.
Only two batsmen crossed 20-run mark as Chris Lynn and Nitish Rana both scored 21 runs before their dismissals. Even none of the batsmen faced at least 20 deliveries which showed the pathetic response by the KKR batsmen.
