Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) set a decent target of 181 runs to win for Gujarat Titans (GT). KKR’s Cameron Green silenced his critics by playing a terrific, mature knock, as there was a mini, drastic collapse as well at the start, even at the back end. GT’s skipper Shubman Gill marshalled his troops.
GT strike thrice to derail KKR in powerplay overs
KKR had opted to bat first & dropped Finn Allen and brought in Tim Seifert in the playing 11. The surface was a typical batting track at Ahmedabad. Ajinkya Rahane’s decision to go all guns blazing on the very first ball cost him his wicket on the bowling of Mohammed Siraj in the first over.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi was quite keen to dictate the terms in 2nd over on the bowling of Kagiso Rabada. GT’s speedster bowled a wide-off stump channel on the last ball of the 2nd over as Raghuvanshi (8 in 4) nicked the ball to the keeper. Tim Seifert (19 in 14) showed some promise, but he couldn’t convert his start. KKR’s score was 37-3 at the end of powerplay overs, GT’s bowlers made the surface look like a greenish one despite it being a belter one.
Cameron Green & Rovman Powell counter-attack in the middle overs
The onus was on Rovman Powell & Cameron Green to rescue the team. In the 8th over, Ashok Sharma was clobbered for boundaries by Rovman Powell, and the pressure was getting off the back for KKR. Cameron Green & Rovman Powell rotated the strike & then capitalized on loose deliveries as they tried their best to target a boundary per over. At the end of 10 overs, KKR’s score was 80-3.
Just when Powell & Green looked to take the game away from GT, Ashok Sharma in the 11th over deceived Rovman (27 in 20 smashed 2 fours and 2 sixes) as a partnership of 55 runs in 42 balls was broken. Cameron Green then launched an attack on Rashid Khan in the 12th over, where he hit 2 fours and 1 six as his all variations were proving to be ineffective.
Cameron Green then got the much-needed boost we can say. In the 15th over again, Rashid was taken to cleaners by Green, who smashed 2 fours and 1 six back to back as he was dropped on 62. Prasidh Krishna got rid of Anukul Roy (9 in 7) in the 15th over. KKR’s score at the end of 15 overs was 148-5.
GT makes a stunning comeback in the death overs
There were high hopes from Rinku Singh to play a sensational cameo as the stage was set for him. Kagiso Rabada, though, had other ideas, who dismissed Rinku for 1 run in 2 as a wide-off stump line & length did wonders for him. Cameron Green’s confidence was somewhat shattered as he kept the rest of the batters falling like a pack of cards.
KKR lost 4 wickets for 35 runs as there was a drastic collapse in the match, as they were reduced to 173-9. Cameron Green didn’t get an ample strike, and even in the 20th over against Rashid, he wasn’t able to get some boundaries under his belt & eventually he had the last laugh. Cameron Green scored 79 runs in 55 balls (*7 fours and 4 sixes). Kagiso Rabada was the pick of the bowlers, who took 3 wickets for 29 runs as GT’s bowlers hunted in a pack. GT’s bowlers bowled a mind-boggling 56 dot balls, which is immense in T20 cricket. KKR got bundled out for 180.
Who’s winning, KKR or GT
181 target is a decent one, we can say, as KKR needs early wickets to give themselves the best chance to win the match. Sunil Narine’s spell would be match-defining. Shubman Gill & Sai Sudharsan, one of them, need to lay the foundation as their top order is a bit fragile. GT looks slight favorites to win the match as a powerplay of 50-60 runs can do the job for the home team.
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