Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Dinesh Karthik lauded the efforts of pacer Prasidh Krishna and experienced spinner Sunil Narine after their fine spells in the team's narrow escape to victory over Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in Abu Dhabi this Saturday (October 10).
Defending the target of 165 in Match 24 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020, KKR had Krishna (3/29) and Narine (2/28) delivering the goods.
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While Krishna controlled the earlier part of the run-chase for his team, Narine rewind the clock at the end by saving the 14 runs that were required off the final over. The two helped restrict KXIP to 162/5, despite once being 114/0, in response to KKR's 164/6.
"I think the Kings XI Punjab took the chase really deep, they batted well, they kept us out of the game for most of it, when they batted they did not give us many opportunities," Karthik said in the post-match press conference, as quoted by ANI.
"They were taking singles, odd boundaries were coming but we just hung in there and believed that if we get a wicket at some time, we can put on pressure on them. Credit to Sunil and Prasidh for creating pressure on them, overall a good bowling effort."
"We were trying to give KL (Rahul) a single and put other batsmen on strike, we were trying to put pressure on the other batsman, that was the plan. Prasidh did that beautifully, even Sunil showed his experience, bowling at the death is not easy, but he was really good," he added.
Karthik reserved special praise for Narine as he held his nerves and showed his experience in the final over where Glenn Maxwell (10*) was eyeing the big shots. On the last ball, with six required, Maxwell struck Narine for a shot that landed just inside the boundary, much to KXIP's despair.
"It was Sunil to bowl in the final over, what he could bowl towards the last ball was the only discussion we had, he was very sure about what he was doing, on the last ball we just had a chat on what he would bowl, we decided to bowl a wide yorker, but Maxwell played a good shot, it was a close and great game," said Karthik.
However, in what was a relatively low-scoring encounter, it was Karthik's magnificent knock in the first half that made a telling difference. On a day where the rest of the KKR batsmen struggled for timing, Karthik made 58 runs off just 29 deliveries to take his team to a defendable total. The wicketkeeper batsman was later adjudged 'Man of the Match'.
"I think the way the group has supported me from the start has been fabulous, it was time that I contributed to the side, the pace at which I batted helped the side to reach a par score," said Karthik.
"The wicket was slower this time, it was not easy to bat on, most of the batsmen could not get the boundaries too easily, I have always said 160-170 totals produce the best type of the matches, these are great totals. The wickets are producing 160-170 scores and they are far more entertaining than high-scoring matches."
"As a team, we have small areas that we need to work on, it was not our best fielding effort today, we just want to make sure that the processes are right," he added.
Third in the points table with four wins and two losses, KKR next face Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Sharjah on Monday (October 12).
