KKR Bowling And Middle Order Fail Them In The Final
Holding an extreme view and carting the ball out of the park is what interests him most. He is a hard hitter at all times. Fasten your seatbelts and read.
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By Slogger
First publised on 2021-10-16 06:53:25
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Holding an extreme view and carting the ball out of the park is what interests him most. He is a hard hitter at all times. Fasten your seatbelts and read.
View all posts by this Author
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) were supposed to be the best bowling unit in IPL 2021. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) were often called the Dad's Army in a derogatory reference to its 'aged' players while T20 is supposed to be a game more suited for youngsters. Turning both these premises on their head, CSK's 'old' players flayed the 'best' bowling unit in this IPL and notched up 192 for three with the 37-year-old Faf du Plessis scoring 86 in 59 balls. None of the KKR bowlers made an impression.
KKR had won the toss and had elected to field but the decision misfired as the in-form Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis raced to 61 in just over 8 overs before Gaikwad was out. But with Uthappa having found his rhythm in the previous match, he got into the groove immediately and played a brilliant cameo of 31 from just 15 balls. Even after he got out there was no respite for the KKR bowlers. Moeen Ali came in next to plunder 37 off just 20 balls. In the end, 192 was a highly competitive score given the fact that KKR's batting was not very strong, although the pitch was playing easy.
KKR started on an excellent note with the in-form pair of Shubman Gill and Venkatesh Iyer notching up 91 runs in 10.4 overs before disaster struck. Shardul Thakur took two wickets in an over to peg them back and then Ravindra Jadeja took another two in the 15th over to end it all. KKR middle order has not clicked in this tournament and they slipped from 91 for 1 to 125 for 8 in not time.
CSK, after a horrendous season last year, won the IPL the fourth time and were deserving winners. Apart from them, only Delhi Capitals looked to be the side that could have won the tournament but unfortunately they lost in the second qualifier. With MS Dhoni continuing to display immense zeal and marshalling his resources in his customary excellent manner, there was no stopping CSK this year. du Plessis was Player of the Match while Harshal Patel was Player of the Tournament.
