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Vishal Dikshit
These are the main talking points of the IPL game 2020 between Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab in Abu Dhabi
Why did Prabhsimran get ahead of Maxwell?
The Punjab Kings XI only needed 21 of 16 balls when their second wicket fell, with captain KL Rahul at the other end, and Mayank Agarwal and Nicholas Pooran back in the dugout. The stage was set for Kings XI to send in Glenn Maxwell and give him the confidence to win the match, or just strike Rahul. But they decided to send an inexperienced Prabhsimran Singh ahead of Maxwell and Mandeep Singh.
Prabhsimran, 20, had played just two IPL matches before this one with a high score of 16 and was facing Sunil Narine at a crucial stage. Narine, on his remaining four innings of the 18th, netted Prabhsimran with his offbreaks and carrom balls and happily gave up a single on the last ball that struck Prabhsimran back for the next over. That over, in which Narine conceded just two, turned the game around and Kings XI had a hitter like Maxwell sitting on the bench.
One possible but unconvincing reason behind Prabhsimran hitting ahead of Maxwell could be the way the 20-year-old had hit in the previous game against Sunrisers Hyderabad. In his eight-ball sojourn, he crossed two boundaries with authority and had even measured the delivery that got him out, but went straight to the point of coverage. Maxwell’s dry streak of 48 runs in six innings and his 70-run, 61-ball pairing with two ejections against Narine likely caused Kings XI to make that decision, but it wasn’t at the right stage of the game or tournament.
How is Ravi Bishnoi so successful against left-handed hitters?
The victims of Bishnoi’s left hand in this IPL include Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, David Warner and now Eoin Morgan. On paper, he’s a leg shooter, but he hardly throws a broken leg at left-handed hitters. Bishnoi, when pitching left-handed hitters, uses his angle from the width of the crease over the wicket very well and keeps throwing a mix of misses and sliders that keep hitting the outside edge and make for an atypical leg clamp.
In the first game, Pant kept losing his sweeps to Bishnoi, expecting the ball to go in, but never made his way towards him and eventually attacked him. On Saturday, Morgan was quick to adjust to Bishnoi’s lack of leg breaks and even tried a few reverse sweeps to play with the angle. But when he tried to hit a bad’un on the outside side, he changed the shot at the last minute and ended up hopping long because he was early in the shot. Bishnoi has eight wickets so far in this IPL, of which four are left-handed hitters.
Why did Nitish Rana go bowling and not Andre Russell?
The Knight Riders have many bowling options, but they had to turn to Rana’s part-time bowling alley after Russell was injured while playing in the second round of the chase. While sprinting back from mid-distance to catch a Rahul skier, Russell reached both hands close to the ball but couldn’t hold onto it, then slid while trying to cross a boundary that ended up in him crashing into the advertising boards at Perimeter. . Russell left the field immediately and since he has been throwing crucial overs in the kill, the Knight Riders thought of using a Rana over to keep the other bowlers out until the end of the chase. Rana’s finish also cost them just seven races.
Russell returned to the field briefly, but came out again while clutching his dubious right knee for the remainder of the chase.
How is it that Arshdeep plays so well against the best hitters?
Medium-paced bowler Arshdeep Singh had so impressed in the death overs against the Sunrisers that he got the new ball with Mohammed Shami on Saturday. Throwing in Rahul Tripathi, he threw a dramatic maiden that included two misses and beat opener three more times in the same change. She pulled off a good sewing motion, used the angle from the porthole very well, and even surprised Tripathi with a gorilla.
In death overs, he often goes around the wicket and smothers right-handed hitters with his cutters and angle. It also showed against the Knight Riders just how cleverly he changes plans. Throwing Russell at 19, the leg side limit was much shorter than the back and forth, and Arshdeep decided to go back to the wicket. It meant Russell would have to strike against the angle to target that shorter limit. Arshdeep threw two full, wide pitches off Russell’s arc, and while the first was on four, Russell only managed an outside advantage for the keeper in the second when he made a big swing.
Why do the Knight Riders keep changing their number 4?
The Knight Riders’ No. 4 hitters this season have been: Rana vs. Mumbai Indians, Dinesh Karthik vs. Sunrisers, Russell vs. Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Capitals, Narine vs. Chennai Super Kings and now Morgan vs. Kings XI. Midway through the league stage, the Knight Riders may be slowly establishing themselves on their ideal XI with a better idea of who to hit and where.
Early in the tournament, they were starting with Narine and trying to send Russell at No. 4 and Morgan at No. 6, with Karthik in the middle to separate the two heavy hitters from outside. It is always argued that hitters like Russell don’t send early enough, but it carries the danger of sending him too early if they lose two early wickets. Given that Morgan is a more well-rounded hitter with his technique and not just a spiker, the Knight Riders may have decided to send him to No. 4, followed by Karthik and Russell, which still makes him a solid and powerful one. medium order.
Why didn’t Kings XI release Mujeeb in the powerplay?
It is clear that Mujeeb ur Rahman’s strength in the T20s is power play, but on Saturday he only threw the first six overs. Mujeeb may have been in Kings XI’s initial powerplay plans, but they made a change after seeing how Shami and Arshdeep tied the Knight Riders higher order. With some help on offer for the sewing bowlers, Shami fired Tripathi and conceded just 12 in his first two, which could have tempted Rahul to give him a third over and Shami also threw the sixth over.
At the other end, Arshdeep sent an impressive maiden to Tripathi and then conceded just two on his second over, as he and Shami were throwing slightly less than good length, making it difficult for hitters to score. The fifth over went to Chris Jordan, for just four, and the power play ended at just 25 of 2, but Mujeeb ended up throwing overs 12 and 14, especially disarmed by Morgan and Karthik to finish 0 of 44.
It was only the sixth time at IPL that Mujeeb ended up throwing all four of his overs after the power play and Kings XI will wonder if those extra runs cost them dearly at the end.
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