New Delhi: KKR were hurt by the frequent loss of wickets during the back end of their innings and consequently fell nine runs short of 200. The way the Eden Gardens has played, it looked KKR finished short by at least 20-25 runs. Although it was Chris Lynn laid the perfect platform for KKR, he is to be blamed for not carrying his bat through. Later, Dinesh Karthik too lost his wicket in the penultimate over to see KKR struggling in the last over.
KKR stitched important stands — 72, 62, 26 — but all were broken at a time when the hosts would have least expected. With momentum on their side, Chris Lynn and Robin Uthappa were flaying the Punjab bowling. But an irresponsible stroke in the ninth over by Uthappa ended his knock and gave Punjab a chance to claw back. Dinesh Karthik joined Lynn and once again KKR picked up the pace. The duo put together 62 runs together and looked pretty much set to take KKR past 200.
But Andrew Tye understood the pitch better in his second spell and mixed up his variations well to cut down on his pace. Lynn, standing deep in his crease was expecting the ball to reach him quickly but he was early into his shot and miscued. The wicket shifted the momentum in Punjab’s favour.
Though, when it came on Karthik to see KKR through, he too got out in the penultimate over after a well made 43, to give Punjab respite in the end overs. KKR had brilliant partnerships but none of them swelled to perfection. In T20, the game goes on so quickly that the new batters find it difficult to smash from the word go. Any number of dots becomes an advantage for the opposition team.
Source: Zee News