KKR secured their first IPL win without Sunil Narine, with Quinton de Kock’s 97 and strong bowling from Moen Ali and Chakravarthy against RR.
Guwahati: No Sunil Narine, no problem. Now, when was the last time Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) said that. To be able to live without the man who creates mayhem with the bat and mystery with the ball was as important for the defending champions as the eight-wicket win here, their first of the campaign.
Kolkata Knight Riders’ batter Quinton de Kock in action against Rajasthan Royals on Wednesday. (PTI)
And it was two retirees who helped them do that. Moen Ali with the ball, forging a partnership with Chakravarthy that derailed the Rajasthan Royals (RR) innings before Quinton de Kock showed there is life in the man who has won successive IPL titles and has two centuries in the competition. De Kock had one plan of attack – attack. His unbeaten 97 (4×8; 6×6) ensured that the modest target of 152 was reached in 17.3 overs.
On a wicket difficult for batters, De Kock picked up the length quickly and produced an array of shots. Such as a pull off Riyan Parag, a straight drive to Wanindu Hasaranga, a pulled four and a six over fine leg off successive Jofra Archer deliveries before sealing it with a six in the same over.
Life for bowlers in IPL is akin to treading on eggshells, especially before the wickets start to tire. Going into Wednesday’s match, 11.35 was the average run rate in the Powerplay. To have had the monotony broken here was a relief.
Ali could not get bat to ball to four Archer’s deliveries as Rajasthan Royals began their defence of 151/9. It was the lowest score in IPL18 and it was because KKR’s bowlers varied lengths and used slower deliveries to good effect on a wicket where the ball was not coming on to the bat.
That the wicket was not a belter was evident from the off when Yashasvi Jaiswal top-edged the night’s first ball, from Spencer Johnson. Or, in the fifth over, when he miscued a drive off Harshit Rana which the bowler was unlucky not to be able to catch. But it was from the seventh over, and predictably with spin, that Ali and Varun Chakravarthy sucked oxygen out of the RR innings. Operating in tandem, they took a wicket each in every over from the eighth to 11th and bowled 18 dot balls.
Ali lured Jaiswal to hole out in the deep but it was the ball that got Nitish Rana, till this term a KKR regular and once a skipper for the men in purple, showed that while he may not have the mystery of Narine, he can sure match him in guile. Nitish Rana gave him the charge and Ali changed his line just so, took pace off before letting his off-spin take out the middle stump. It matched Vaibhav Arora’s delivery that arrowed into Sanju Samson’s leg stump after the batter had stepped out as the delivery of the innings.
There wasn’t a four or six between 7.3 and 12.5 overs. The first was possibly the only poor ball bowled by Chakravarthy and Riyan Parag swung it over midwicket. Chakravarthy got his revenge when Parag was forced into hoiking one moving away from him. The edge went so high that De Kock could remove his helmet and steady himself to take the catch.
When Dhruv Jurel hit Ali for a four in the 13th over, RR had lost five wickets and still not got to 100 after being asked to bat first. By then, the punt on promoting Hasaranga had not worked. From having an appeal on De Kock overturned to five wides, nothing really worked for the home team. As Archer showed, there was enough in the wicket but not enough runs for RR.
