Skip to main content

KKR: Another Lucky Year?

For the second consecutive time this IPL season, KKR have managed to defend a score quite comfortably (v SRH and v MI). They say defending a total is the most difficult aspect of T20 cricket which is why most captains have opted to bowl first in previous editions of the IPL. Yesterday KKR captain Shreyas Iyer opted to bat first and that I think set the tone for rest of the match.

All-round cricketers Andre Russell and Pat Cummins celebrating a wicket in IPL 2022 as Tim Southee walks past them

KKR looked very strong after the completion of the IPL Auction 2022. They turned that into performances winning three of their first four matches before suffering a five-match losing streak, before winning v RR. Cricket, or rather sport in general, is all about momentum and Kolkata had clearly lost it midway through the tournament. Their top order was failing, Shreyas Iyer and Nitish Rana were inconsistent and most of their bowlers leaked runs. While people like Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Umesh Yadav had been excellent, other international cricketers like Pat Cummins and Aaron Finch produced ordinary outings. There was a lot of chopping and changing, until they landed back to almost the same eleven that took on CSK in the IPL 2022 opener

Suddely the batting started to click and the bowlers were more efficient this time around. KKR went on to win three of their next four matches and currently sit on the sixth place in the IPL Points Table. Can KKR still qualify? They still have a shot at the Playoffs spot if they manage to win their last match, preferably by a big margin. With their head coach taking up another job offer in English cricket and Pat Cummins returning home due to injury, KKR were expected to be ruffled but instead they put on a dominating show v SRH. Top order runs, check. Finishing strongly, check. Seamers, check. Spinners, check. All seems to be finally working well for the two-time IPL champions. Luck may take them through, like last time (under Dinesh Karthik). But do they have enough of it for another IPL title?

Feel free to comment and do share my post. Also, follow The Fourth Innings on Twitter: https://twitter.com/the4thinnings.

Comments

  1. A very good piece. Enjoyed reading it.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Your comments help us produce better content......

Popular posts from this blog

Bumrah, Bhuvi and....?

Here is the second installment in my new series, Cricket Debates. Check out me and @_batballbanter.arena9_ debating on " Who should partner Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah in India's XI for the T20 WC? " @_batballbanter.arena9_ speaks for IPL sensation Harshal Patel while I back the quietly effective Arshdeep Singh. PS: We both think these two are ahead of Avesh Khan and Mohammed Shami. Presenting you, Bumrah, Bhuvi and....? A big thanks to BBB Arena for his time, efforts and opinions.  Feel free to comment and do share my post. Also,  follow The Fourth Innings on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/the4thinnings .

IPL 2022 Review

Cricket | T20 | IPL | IPL 2022 | IPL 2022 Review | RR | GT | RCB | LSG | DC | PBKS | KKR | SRH | CSK | MI It's only been a few moments since Gujarat Titans won the coveted IPL trophy. The 15th edition of the T20 cricket league saw two new teams being added to the competition - Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Supergiants. In an interesting (but not shocking) turn of events, the two most successful franchises in IPL history, Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians, finished at the bottom of the points table. After nine weeks of enthralling cricket action, Gujarat Titans have emerged as winners. But this IPL season, like the ones before, has given us a lot of talking points, ranging from auction strategy to plan execution. Mumbai Indians (10th) Mumbai Indians basically had no one to support Jasprit Bumrah. Unlike previous seasons where the Mumbai team would be filled with T20 superstars, IPL 2022 saw them play Daniel Sams, Tymal Mills, Murugan Ashwin and Basil Thampi in their first XI. Thei...

The Pant vs DK Debate

The first post in my new series, Cricket Debates. Check out me and @vkasliwal debating it out over " Pant or DK: Who should be India's wicketkeeper in T20Is? " @vkasliwal speaks for Dinesh Karthik, who is in the form of his life, while I back the exciting Rishabh Pant. Who are you rooting for? Let us know in the comments. Presenting you, The Pant vs DK Debate . A big thanks to Viraat Kasliwal for agreeing to be a part of this. Feel free to comment and do share my post. Also,  follow The Fourth Innings on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/the4thinnings .