Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], April 4 (ANI): Following his team’s 80-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Ajinkya Rahane expressed happiness with his team’s victory and said that winning by a big margin was crucial.
Defending champions KKR’s campaign was back on track after losses to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Mumbai Indians (MI) as standout half-centuries from Venkatesh Iyer and Angkrish Raghuvanshi and three-wicket hauls from Vaibhav Arora and Varun Chakravarthy helped KKR secure an eighty-run win over SRH.
Speaking in the post-match presentation, Rahane said, “This game was really important for us. Winning by a big margin was crucial. Even we wanted to bowl on this wicket. When we lost two early wickets, we wanted to consolidate till 6 overs – play with intent but play cricketing shots. And then when we have wickets in hand, guys down the order can get as many runs as possible. Happy with the batting unit.”
Rahane marked that the last two games against MI and even the win against Rajasthan Royals (RR) were not up to the mark, but the team has learnt from its mistakes.
“This is a great example for us as a batting unit. Rinku and Venkatesh – those guys can play brilliant shots. Ramandeep (Singh) was sitting in the dugout, Dre (Andre Russell) was sitting and Moeen was also ready. It was about playing normal till 15 overs and take it on. Initially, we thought 170-180 in the surface would be good. Slower balls were gripping. We had three quality spinners. Moeen, unfortunately, couldn’t bowl tonight. Sunny (Sunil Narine) and Varun bowled really well. Credit goes to Vaibhav and Harshit (Rana) as well,” he concluded.
Coming to the match, SRH won the toss and fielded first. Their decision seemed to pay off when they sent Quinton de Kock and Sunil Narine for single-digits, reducing KKR to 16/2, but a counter-attack by Rahane (38 in 27 balls, with a four and four sixes) and Raghuvanshi (50 in 32 balls, with five fours and two sixes) brought them back into the game. After the quick loss of these two stars, Venkatesh Iyer (60 in 29 balls, with seven fours and three sixes) and Rinku Singh (32* in 17 balls, with four boundaries and a six) powered KKR to 200/6 in their 20 overs with a 91-run stand for the fifth wicket.
Mohammed Shami (1/29) and Harshal Patel (1/43) were top wicket-takers for SRH.
During the run-chase, SRH was never truly in the match and lost wickets at a rapid rate. Vaibhav Arora (3/29) and Varun Chakravarthy (3/22) stood out as only Heinrich Klaasen (33 in 21 balls, with two fours and two sixes) and Kamindu Mendis (27 in 20 balls, with a four and two sixes) could cross the 20-run mark.
With this win, KKR’s campaign is somewhat back on track as with two wins and two losses. They are in the fifth spot. SRH are at the bottom with a win and three losses. (ANI)
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