KKR fought till last over to defend their target of 129 runs.
Following Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)’s loss against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their second match of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, skipper Shreyas Iyer on Wednesday (30th March) said that the way his side fought is going to reflect their mentality in the next few games.
In what was a low scoring thriller, Kolkata Knight Riders suffered a 3-wicket loss against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Mumbai. Asked to bat first, the Iyer-led side had a poor start with the bat as they lost Venkatesh Iyer (10), Ajinkya Rahane (9) and Nitish Rana (10) inside the power play.
Things got worse for them when they lost skipper Iyer, Sunil Narine and Sheldon Jackson in quick succession of time and found themselves tumbling at 67/6. All-rounder Andre Russell top-scored with the bat with 25 runs to his name and helped his side post a fighting total of 128 on the board after a sloppy start.
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Defending the target, Umesh Yadav and Tim Southee took KKR off to a flyer and removed RCB’s top three quickly to leave them tottering at 17/3. However, contributions from David Willey (18), Sherfane Rutherford (28) and Shahbaz Ahmed (27) kept the Faf du Plessis-led side in the hunt.
KKR bowlers chipped in from time to time and kept taking wickets at regular intervals. They bowled tight lines and took the match to the last over. With 7 runs needed from the last 6 balls, RCB batter Dinesh Karthik smashed a six and a four to seal the game for his side.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Shreyas Iyer revealed what he told his players when they stepped on field to defend a low total. He added that their fighting spirit will reflect their mentality for the next few games.
“I really found this game exciting. Before getting in, I spoke with my boys and told them that this game is going to define our character and attitude on the field no matter we defend or not. The way we fight it on the ground, that is really going to reflect our mentality in the next few games. I am really proud the way we played this game and took it till the last over," Shreyas Iyer said.
Iyer lauded RCB’s middle order for playing the tough phase after early jolts and said that he wanted to get his main bowlers upfront and put pressure on them.
“It was really tough at that moment because I wanted to get my best bowlers up there and get a few wickets early on but it didn’t work out really well. Kudos to their batsmen, they played really well out in the middle. They took out the toughest phase as soon as possible," he said.
Iyer talked about his decision to give Venkatesh Iyer the penultimate over. He said that it’s important for him to give his players confidence and back them.
“In the end, I decided to go with Venky because he’s also got really good experience bowling at international level and you need to back them especially at the start of the tournament. It’s really important they gain confidence as early as possible and this was one of the best games to get that," he said.
The KKR skipper also shared his thoughts about the wicket and said that although the execution on the pitch was tough, they wanted to get off to a good start. He said that they will rectify their errors in the next game and will try to gain momentum as early as possible.
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“The wicket was looking a bit dicey at the start, it was two-paced, variable and the bounce was odd. We wanted to get off to a really good start and that’s what we planned. The execution part was tough. We are going to come back with the same mindset, we are not going to chicken out.
“That’s what we want to focus on and that’s what we spoke about coming into the tournament that we’ll be someone who’d be taking risks. Next time when we come, we need to rectify the errors and see to it that we get the momentum as early as possible," said Iyer
Shreyas Iyer also praised RCB spinner Wanindu Hasaranga for his heroics in the match. He talked about how the leg-spinner got help from the wicket and bowled good lines and lengths.
“He (Wanindu Hasaranga) bowled really well, he got off to a good start after getting my wicket. I was able to read him pretty well at the start. We had decided that we’ll play him as an off-spinner but unfortunately he bowled really good lines and lengths. He’s also very experienced and he was getting some help on this wicket. Congratulations to him," he said.
Kolkata Knight Riders will next play Punjab Kings on 1st April at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.
(Star Sports inputs)