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IPL 2020 |KKR vs KXIP: Three Reasons Why KL Rahul and Co. would like to forget this match as quickly as possible

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It was not as much about winning the game for Kings XI Punjab, as it was about taking out the mental block of 'failing in crucial moments' from their memory. Ever since the third game of their campaign, they have lost a match by failing to win the crucial moments even after bossing the entire match. Unfortunately, they did exactly that today as well. 

Having reached 143/1 in17 overs, one would believe that a team needing 21 runs from there on with two set batsmen at the crease would win the game 99 out of 100 times. And it was that one time in which the Kings faltered and how did they falter! going on to lose the game by two runs when they needed 14 from the last over. 

There are many reasons which could be attributed to the Kings XI for the loss and Kolkata Knight Riders for the dramatic win in Abu Dhabi. However, three would suffice to break even the story of a downhill run of the Punjab unit. 

#1 Dinesh Karthik Onslaught

On a new track, the Kings XI bowlers were going great as they picked up two early wickets and choked the flow of runs for KKR. At the end of the 10th over the team was languishing at below sixty with both Eoin Morgan and Shubman Gill trying to rebuild the innings. Only after the Morgan wicket, the commander-in-chief of the Knight Riders- Dinesh Karthik arrived and marched the troops ahead taking the lead. 

While at one point it looked difficult for Kolkata to get to even 150, Karthik’s 58 of 29 deliveries at the strike rate of 200 was the dose that the team needed. It was also what Karthik needed, having failed in the last five games. Just to feel confident and to be able to say to himself that ‘Yes! I deserve to lead them’, this inning was very much required for the 35-year-old. His partnership with Shubman Gill (82 off 43) and then the death over hits helped KKR reach a competitive total of 164. 


#2 Sending Prabhsimran ahead of a proven hitter Glenn Maxwell 

Everything was going smooth for the Punjab team as they were on their way to pick up their second comprehensive win to boost their confidence until Nicholas Pooran decided to become a hero all of a sudden. In the process, he ended up throwing away his wicket. But even at 144/2 with 21 required from 16 balls and hitters like Glenn Maxwell and Mandeep Singh in the dugout, one would fancy the batting team to win. 

But instead of sending a proven talent like Maxwell in the middle, the Kings XI management decided to send a young Prabhsimran Singh in front of a vastly experienced Sunil Narine. Not only did the move fail as Singh ate away too many balls and got out eventually without fulfilling the purpose, but it also put pressure on a set Rahul, who melted under it. 


#3 KL Rahul’s failure as a finisher

When Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul were going well, Rahul was batting relatively slow but was complimented well by Mayank. Also since the required rate was quite low, it didn’t really bother anyone and later on, he picked up pace as well. But when it was really the time to kill the match he fell flat on his heels. 

When the required rate was too low and Pooran was finding it difficult to connect, he should have gone on and talked to him, suggesting him to take a single. Considering the point that Pooran is an established name and hence Rahul did not feel like suggesting him anything, he should have at least talked to Prabhsimran and asked him to get a single and give him the strike. 

Let’s say Prabhsimran wasn’t able to take the single. So when it was the last ball of the Narine over, Rahul should have refused the single as now 21 were required from the two overs, and taking the charge as a captain was something necessary at that moment. 

Let’s for a moment also consider that he did not want a young man to believe that the captain has lost the confidence in him and therefore took the single, then he should have at least not got out playing such a rash shot as he did. He should have taken the game to the final over himself and then won it. Alas! It could not happen, giving Rahul and his team a memory that would haunt them for a long time.  

 



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IPL 2020 | KKR vs KXIP: What experts said as Kings XI Punjab throw away easy win

It is hard to describe what transpired between the 16th and the 20th over of the Kings XI Punjab innings as it was really difficult to understand what the batsmen were trying to do when all they needed from the last five overs was just 48 runs with nine wickets in hand and a settled captain and the most in-form hitter in the form Nicholas Pooran on the crease. Kings XI were outdone by two runs at Abu Dhabi in a yet another Kolkata Knight Riders special, as the Dinesh Karthik led team made a comeback from, a place which seemed unbelievable to claw back from. 21 runs were needed from three overs and Pooran was going berserk. Then suddenly he decided to play a shot that was never required throwing away his wicket at the most crucial moment of the game. Then came the biggest mistake of the game, sending a Prabhsimaran Singh in front of a wily Sunil Narine was like sending the goat in front of the lion, who feasted happily on it. One run from the 18th over is what the Kings got suddenly sending their required run-rate to the sky and again with Prabhsimran on strike, but this time agai9nst a Prasidh Krishna. With a brilliant over from Krishna in which he got both Prabhsimran and Rahul out and just gave away 6 runs, the game was set for a finish that nobody could have imagined after the end of the first half of the chase. In the end, Sunil Narine turned out to be too much for Maxwell who could get only 11 from the over as the Punjabis succumbed to another defeat in a losing run that has now extended to five games in a row. Captains’ Viewpoint Speaking in the post-match presentation ceremony, KKR captain Dinesh Karthik seemed visibly happy. Talking about his brilliant innings of 58 from 29, Karthik said, “McCullum is encouraging me to bat higher, though I always feel I bat better somewhere in the middle.” “We have had these conversations, but in the end, I give him the credit for keeping me in a place where I can contribute to the team's success,” he added. Andre Russell, one important all-rounder of the team got injured and Karthik as captain underscore his importance saying, “Whenever Russell gets injured, my heart is always in my mouth because he is a very key player for us. We need to look up at him and make sure he's okay.” The Tamil Nadu born also praised Prasidh Krishna who bowled a brilliant 19th over to give Sunil Narine a very good chance at defending 14 off the last over. “Krishna is special, and is close to a spot for the India white-ball team,” he said. “He has to make some adjustments but the way he bowled in the second spell shows why he is one of the better bowlers in India,” he added. Sunil Narine has been under the scanner for quite some time. But today he proved that why Karthik and the Knight Riders rate him so highly. “I think Narine stands up for us all the time; he's always looking out for the team. A lot of credit goes to Morgan for having the world's best captain around. He keeps things very positive,” said Karthik. Much like everyone else in the KKR vamp and their fan base, the 35-year-old captain too was expecting that the ball hit by Glenn Maxwell landed short so that they wouldn’t have to go through Super Over. “I was hoping it would land just short, and that's exactly what ended up happening. Not easy to hit a shot over cover under pressure. But credit to the bowlers for finishing it really well with the ball,” he concluded. Saying that it would be frustrating for the Kings XI skipper KL Rahul to come again and again in the post-match presentation and dwell upon the mistakes repeatedly is an understatement. And Rahul did give in finally saying, “I have no answers. Just have to keep coming hard in the next seven and win a few,” he said. Rahul said that he was happy with the way the bowlers bowled. “We bowled well, it's the first game on this new strip, but the bowlers adapted well by swinging the ball early and getting wickets in the powerplay, which is the only way to keep them below 180.” “Even in the death, they did well to mix it up, trying to bowl bouncers and bluff the batsmen with wide yorkers. That's what we asked of them and they executed well,” he added. Lamenting on the fact that he was not able to finish the game, Rahul said that it wasn’t easy to get over the line after losing wickets in clusters. “We weren't satisfied at any stage during the run-chase; you're only satisfied when you win. Me and Mayank started off well, but if you lose wickets in clusters at the end, it's hard to get over the line,” said the losing captain. Expert Opinion It was hard for anyone to digest the way Kings XI lost the game and that was evident in the comments by the experts as well. Veteran analyst and commentator, Harsha Bhogle while commenting on the game said that KKR and Sunil Narine must be given due credit for handling such a tough case that easily. On the other hand, a veteran journalist from Kolkata, Gautam Bhattacharya, while praising the Kings XI bowlers raised questions on the team's decision to send Prabhsimran ahead of Maxwell. Similar was the case with senior journalist and one of the most sought after cricket writers, Sambit Bal as he recounted many reasons for the Kings XI defeat, primary of them, which others forgo9t to mention, was the ambitious shot from Nicholas Pooran which triggered the mini-collapse that ultimately costed Kings XI the game. Boria Majumdar, a senior cricket expert, usually known for his to the point opinions also pointed out the mistakes of the Kings management to send in young Prabhsimran ahead of Glenn Maxwell. At the same time, he also praised Prasidh Krishna for his brilliant bowling effort. Gaurav Kalra, another senior journalist, mostly famous for his witty tweets was at it against saying that Kings XI finally manage to churn out a thriller from a game that deserved none. While teams would be looking to avoid Kolkata getting in such a situation where they could defend 10 an over for five overs, for Punjab unfortunately, it seems like the end of the road even when the league hasn't reached it's halfway mark.

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IPL 2020 | KKR vs KXIP: Punjab pays for brain-fade moment as Kolkata win by the barest of margins

Kings XI Punjab have themselves to blame for losing a contest which they had in their kitty. Dinesh Karthik and Co. yet again managed to snatch a win from the jaws of defeat. It has been that kind of a season in the IPL. Chasing 165 for victory, KXIP got off to the best possible start. KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal put on 115 runs for the first wicket. The duo was a little cautious throughout the chase mainly due to the thin middle-order. Agarwal perished after scoring a fifty and he would have thought that his efforts wouldn’t be going down the pan this time around. Rahul kept dealing in singles and twos as KXIP were inching towards a much-needed win. However, things went south thereafter. Firstly, Nicholas Pooran went for a wild hit and missed the ball completely, helping Sunil Narine scalp his first wicket. The side still needed 21 runs to win off 16 balls. In came the shocker! Instead of sending Glenn Maxwell, Prabhsimran Singh made his way out in the middle. The next half a dozen deliveries were a nightmare for the 20-year-old, who averages 18.71 in T20 cricket. The batter consumed seven deliveries and made mere four runs. Rahul faced the heat as he too departed soon. Karthik brought his trump card for the final over. 14 runs were needed off Narine’s over. KXIP managed just 11 runs as the Knight Riders got home by the barest of margins. Earlier in the day, opener Shubman Gill played a good hand of 57 off 47 balls. The youngster steadied the ship after the side were reduced to 14/2 at one stage. KKR scored just 63 runs in the first 70 deliveries. But it was Dinesh Karthik who played a near-perfect finishing cameo to help the side get to a good total. Karthik, who had failed to find his lost touch in previous outings, made a 29-ball 58. He hit two maximums and eight fours and didn’t let the Punjab bowlers breathe at ease. Though, one particular pacer stood out courtesy his nagging line and length - Arshdeep Singh picked up the vital scalp of Andre Russell and conceded mere nine runs in the penultimate over to return with figures of 1/25. Another young sensation, Ravi Bishnoi was impressive once again as he kept putting pressure on the opposition batters and ended with a wicket, having leaked just 25 runs. This particular loss would bite the back of KXIP as they have many questions to answer - Rahul’s too cautious approach with the bat, the brain-fade call to send in Singh instead of Maxwell and Pooran’s irresponsible shot.

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IPL 2020 | KKR vs KXIP: Hits and Flops as Knight Riders script another dramatic win

The Kolkata Knight Riders pulled off another close win after looking down and out on the back of outstanding bowling by Sunil Narine and Prasidh Krishna. The Kings XI Punjab really looked like a side that ran out of depth when pressure started to increase with ascending required rate and falling wickets. Captain KL Rahul made all the efforts to settle down in order to be there at the end to steer the team home, but the gamble of taking it too far in the innings did not pay off for him, and the Punjab side. Here we decipher the best and the worst performers of the day from the match between KKR and KXIP. Hits Sunil Narine Sunil Narine is redeeming himself every match after he was relieved off from the duty of providing the Knight Riders a risk start with the bat in hand. He may be appearing a lot less threatening than he once looked against batsmen in the IPL, but captain Dinesh Karthik has made sure that his experience of bowling in tough situations and guile will not be wasted. He has been used strategically after 10th over when opposition batsmen have looked settled to tee off in the last few overs and the move has paid dividends in two consecutive matches for the Kolkata Side. On the day when the Kings XI Punjab was steamrolling towards a comfortable victory with a lot of wickets in hand, Karthik once again turned to Narine and asked him to bring his A age in the 18th and 20th over of the innings. Narine accepted the challenges and derailed Punjab’s chase with a 2 run over along with a big wicket of Nicholas Pooran which turned out to be the turning point in Kings XI failing to chase down the target. Back in the 20th over, Nine had to defend 14 runs to hand his team another comeback-from-behind win but he had to do it against Glenn Maxwell. Maxwell tried all his tricks but failed 2 runs short of KKR's 164. Dinesh Karthik Karthik, the captain had redeemed himself in the last game against the Chennai Super Kings when he scripted a magnificent turnaround to deny CSK an easy chase. However, there were many questions lying on his head such as his own position in the abetting order or should Eoin Morgan and Andre Russell should be slotted above him. But, Karthik silenced all his critics in an emphatic manner, and although he came to bat when his team was in a precarious position, he streeted them to a defendable total. His signature shots such as inside out over cover and slog sweeps against spinners were back and Dinesh Karthik looked like the one who had caught the attention of the national selector for a finisher role. The 29-ball-58 will do a world of good to his confidence as a batsman while another fabulous win when all looked down and out will boost his leadership credentials if there were any. Arshdeep Singh Arshdeep Singh was brought into the playing XI after the Kings XI Punjab’s bowling lineup started failing to keep control on matches and the young pacer from Punjab has not disappointed his coach and captain. In the crucial encounter against the Kolkata Knight Riders showed the glimpse of the control he has over his arsenal. He was reintroduced in the 19th over with a task to contain Andres Russell, a job that looks monumental for any bowler especially in the 19th over of the innings but Arshdeep kept his composure and backed his skills to come up trump against Russell. The KXIP team must have had a strategy of bowling wide yorkers to KKR batsmen in the last over but it was down to Arshdeep to show how good a bowler he is with the execution of strategies on the field when bowling against some of the best in business. Safe to say, Arshdeep had the last laugh, dismissing Russell and limiting the damage to only nine runs in that 19th over. Flops KL Rahul It’s very rare to rank a batsman in the flop category after a 58-ball-74 inning but the fact that KL Rahul was batting from the first over of the chase and still mistimed the acceleration, should put a question mark on the strategy both he and coach Kumble have in mind. KL Rahul’s strike rate has always been in question but he refuted the criticism calling it overrated. He had said that his batting is dependent on the condition of the game but the match against the KKR proved that his idea of taking it too deep is not free from danger. Ultimately, he was dismissed in the 19th over by an impressive Prasidh Krishna and the Kings XI could not break the sling streak. KL Rahul needs to correct many things in his team and a lot has to start with a clear-headed approach both in batting and team selection. At times, KL Rahul has looked perplexed and that is unforgivable for an IPL captain in a closely fought tournaments such as IPL. Mujeeb-Ur Rahman Mujeeb was included in the playing Xi with the hope of bringing control and discipline in the bowling department after repetitive failures from Chris Jordan and Sheldon Cottrell but Mujeeb has not been able to do justice to the amount of faith the KXIP management has shown in him. With the team looking for a bowler who could provide breakthroughs in the middle overs while also controlling the flow of runs, Mujeeb’s outing against the KKR was abysmal, to say the least. He was guilty of bowling indifferent lengths and that did not help captain Rahul in setting proper fields. He was either too full or too short and the KKR batting line up was not to miss out on his ineffective bowling today and they handed out a proper hammering to the Afghan spinner talking 44 runs off his quota of four overs.

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IPL 2020 | SRH vs RR: Match Preview, Predicted XI & Dream11 Fantasy Picks

Rajasthan Royals are coming into Sunday’s contest on the back of four straight losses. On the other hand, Sunrisers Hyderabad are fresh from a 69-run victory over Kings XI Punjab. Both the sides boast of some big names in the white-ball format. While the likes of Jos Buttler and Steve Smith add a lot of value to the Royals unit, David Warner and Jonny Bairstow have once again donned the role of flag bearers for the side. The addition of Ben Stokes for this match will inject fresh lease of life into the Royals unit. It would provide a much-needed boost to the thin middle-order. Moving on, the absence of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mitch Marsh hasn’t put a dent on the spirits of the Orange Brigade as Rashid Khan has led the bowling front in a commendable manner. Royals bank on foreign imports to fire on all cylinders Skipper Smith has found the going tough. After back-to-back fifties, Smith is currently going through a dry spell. The Royals would want their skipper back to scoring runs. Jos Buttler has shown a glimpse of his robust touch and he could be calling the shots in the upcoming game. Jofra Archer and Rahul Tewatia have been solid customers with the ball. They have bowled to their strengths and kept the batters in a shackle. Young Kartik Tyagi is a promising talent and the thinking cricketer could spell trouble for the opposition. The Warner-Bairstow show is back, SRH look to extend winning momentum The top-order is in good touch while the likes of Manish Pandey and Kane Williamson have tasted success this season. The onus will be on the openers to provide a stellar start so that the middle-order can capitalize on it. The Sunrisers don’t bat too deep but their bowling will be the USP going into the game against Royals. Rashid Khan has been the go-to bowler for Warner. After six matches, Rashid’s economy reads 4.83 and yes that included a gig in Sharjah. Khaleel Ahmed is a street-smart seamer while T Natarajan has been the find of the season for SRH so far. Sunrisers Hyderabad v Rajasthan Royals: Match Details Match Number- 25 Date: 11th October 2020, at 3:30 PM IST Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai Pitch Report: The Dubai International Cricket Stadium has witnessed a few six-hitting contests so far. The batters have looked to make the most of the square boundaries but the pacers have had a say with the new ball. It all makes up for an interesting contest. Weather and Toss: This would be the first afternoon game at this venue and it’s a no-brainer that both the sides would look to bat first in order to avoid the heat. 175-180 should be a competitive total on this wicket. Sunrisers Hyderabad - Expected XI: David Warner (C), Jonny Bairstow (WK), Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Abdul Samad, Abhishek Sharma, Rashid Khan, Priyam Garg, Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma and T Natarajan Rajasthan Royals - Expected XI: Jos Buttler (WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Steve Smith (C), Ben Stokes, Mahipal Lomror/Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat/Ankit Rajpoot and Kartik Tyagi Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Rajasthan Royals: Dream 11 team and suggestions Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler, David Warner, Manish Pandey, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abdul Samad, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Rashid Khan, T Natarajan and Shreyas Gopal Captain: Sanju Samson Vice-captain: Manish Pandey