IPL 2017: KKR beat Gujarat Lions by ten wickets in their IPL 10 opener in Rajkot. (Source: BCCI/IPL)
Riding high on the unbeaten 184-run, yes 184-run, stand between Chris Lynn and Gautam Gambhir, Kolkata Knight Riders overpowered Gujarat Lions’ 183/4 to commence their IPL 2017 campaign with a thumping win in Rajkot on Friday. Chasing the stiff total, the two-time champions dominated proceedings from the word go and never allowed the hosts to come back into the game.
The chase show was led by Lynn who was in a destructive mood. Smashing as many as eight sixes, the right-hander never allowed the Gujarat seamers to settle on what was a beautiful wicket to bat on. With nothing happening from the wicket or in the air, the variations didn’t matter as Lynn was picking them easily from the hand. The only time a Gujarat bowler looked good was the opening over by Praveen Kumar. He did end as the most economical bowler for the team as his opening seven-run over was followed by a six-run one later in the innings. It was a baffling decision by Suresh Raina to not give the genuine swing bowler a longer spell in the first ten overs. He could have asked some questions with the new ball but was never allowed to.
Once he was off the attack, the ball kept sailing over the ropes or hitting them. Both Gambhir and Lynn maintained their flow of runs and there was a flow of boundaries, plenty of boundaries from their willow. Lack of quality seamers and spinners definitely hurt Gujarat and it was always going to be difficult to defend any total with this attack. There was no variety whatsoever and the seamers, except Praveen, looked seriously out of sorts. Yes, they did miss services of Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo but would have been better off playing someone like a Nathu Singh or the experienced Munaf Patel on this batting-friendly wicket.
It all started at the toss. With Gambhir putting Gujarat in, quick runs, and plenty of runs, were need of the hour. Brendon McCullum did impress while he lasted, Suresh Raina and Dinesh Karthik did give the total a serious push at the death but the game was lost when KKR spinners pulled things back. It was Kuldeep Yadav who picked the dangerous McCullum and returned with impressive figures of 2/25. Raina did all he could during his unbeaten 68, so did Karthik, but the game was lost even before they took field. Fielding four overseas batsmen didn’t quite work for them and the management should now seriously consider the combination since the bowling wears a waffer-thin look at the moment.
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