IPL 2019 | Four wickets in the powerplay hurt us, says Dinesh Karthik

In what was a highly anticipated match between the two table toppers, Kolkata Knight Riders were put to bat first, and the Chennai Super Kings started their attack with Deepak Chahar and Harbhajan Singh. TMS Dhoni’s trick against the two overseas batsman worked like a charm, as Chris Lynn was dismissed in the very first over, followed by Sunil Narine in the next. It was very evident that pitch suited bowlers and Nitish Rana and Robin Uthappa should have tried to hang in there, but they threw away their wickets cheaply, while trying to hit aerial shots.

The Knight Riders were reeling at 24 for four in under five overs, and the skipper Dinesh Karthik and Shubman Gill looked to hold the innings together, but they did not last long and walked back into the dressing room within the tenth over. Piyush Chawla hit a six, but failed to play along with Andre Russell. The big hitting all-rounder was forced to play a knock against his natural game, and scored an unbeaten 50 off 44 balls, taking KKR’s total to 108.

The skipper Karthik acknowledge his team’s failure, and pointed out towards the fall of wickets in the powerplay.

“Definitely not enough runs on the board. These are tricky games and you don't know how many runs to set with the dew and everything, but when the game finishes you feel you should have got 20 more runs, so it's always a catch-22 situation. When you lose four wickets in the powerplay, you are always behind the eight-ball. Then you have to consolidate and probably hope to go well towards the end, but we couldn't do that,” explained Karthik, at the post match presentation ceremony, reported PTI.

Russell has lit up this year’s Indian Premier League with his unimaginable hitting, where he has smashed 257 runs at a strike rate of over 200, but in this match, he held one end and played maturely to stay till the last ball. The skipper was pleased with the all-rounder’s efforts. 

“But credit to Russell, he showed a lot of maturity and I am pleased with the way he's shaping up,” said the 33 year old.

In spite of the small total, which required runs to be scored at a run rate of little over five, the KKR bowlers put up a fight by scalping three wickets, and took the match until the 18th over, but Faf du Plessis, who scored an unbeaten 43, spoiled their party. The skipper was delighted with the fact that the bowlers did not give up, despite the low total and dew.

“I was happy with the general attitude, I like the way we tried defending a small total, especially the spinners with the wet ball. I don't think it was a lack of concentration from our side with the bat,” remarked the wicket-keeper batsman.

The skipper took pride that his team had won two out of their three away games, and are still placed second on the points table with four victories in six matches. He was positive about his team’s chances against Delhi Capitals on April 12, at their home venue Eden Gardens.

“We have been on the road for three games, but have won two in five days and we shouldn't be too greedy. We've tried hard and as a captain I am okay with not coming up on top everyday. When we return, we need to regroup. Two good teams playing and it should be a good match against Delhi next. Enjoy, forget today, next game is a new game, a new day,” Karthik signed off.