Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Shreyas Iyer reflected on their first loss of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season against Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. Ravindra Jadeja’s exceptional performance with the ball set the tone for Chennai’s comprehensive seven-wicket victory on a Chepauk track that favored slower bowling.
Despite a promising start in the powerplay, with Philip Salt’s dismissal on the very first ball, KKR struggled to adapt to the conditions as the game progressed. Iyer acknowledged the team’s failure to assess the pitch quickly, leading to a loss of momentum and consecutive wickets.
“I personally feel we fell short in terms of assessing the wicket. We were phenomenal in the powerplay but after that, we couldn’t capitalise, we lost consecutive wickets. We weren’t able to assess the conditions as quickly as possible. It completely changed after the powerplay and scoring runs off this wicket wasn’t easy,” Iyer stated after the match.
Jadeja’s spell of three wickets for just 18 runs in four overs highlighted the challenge KKR’s spinners faced in containing CSK’s batters. The surface made it difficult for hard-hitters to score freely, further complicating KKR’s batting approach post-powerplay.
“Obviously, they know conditions pretty well and they bowled according to their plan. It was a bit tacky, especially even when the hard-hitters came in, it wasn’t easy for them to go [big] right from the first ball. It changed tremendously after the powerplay. We were trying to construct our innings, didn’t go to plan. We take those learnings and move forward,” he attached.
The combined efforts of Jadeja, Maheesh Theekshana, and Rachin Ravindra restricted KKR to a below-par total of 137/9. Iyer admitted that despite a good start, they couldn’t capitalize on it, aiming for a target of 160-170 runs.
“We were in a comfortable place at the beginning, we thought 160-170 would be a great score on this wicket. Even when they played against RCB, the conditions were fairly similar. So that was our plan but when you lose consecutive wickets, it’s difficult to carry forward momentum,” Iyer stated.
Chennai Super Kings, led by Ruturaj Gaikwad’s unbeaten 67, chased down the target of 138 with ease, securing a convincing seven-wicket win. Iyer acknowledged CSK’s dominance and emphasized the need for KKR to learn from the experience and move forward in the tournament.
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