KKR’s Boult, Cummins, Russell hit back as team win do-or-die

Kolkata Knight Riders endured a fiery five-wicket burst from Jasprit Bumrah that sent them plummeting from 123 for 2 to 165 for 9. They regrouped at the break and came back to blow away Mumbai Indians for 113 to stay alive in IPL 2022.

KKR start well

In a win-or-exit match, KKR had gone all out, as was to be expected from a side coached by Brendon McCullum. They had made as many as five changes to their XI – their opening combination from the start of the season, Ajinkya Rahane and Venkatesh Iyer, was back, so were old hands Pat Cummins and Varun Chakaravarthy, and they’d sacrificed a seamer for an extra batsman; there was no doubt they would go as hard as they could, barring Rahane’s anchoring presence, as it turned out.

The approach had worked nicely too; they’d wanted to bat first, as Shreyas Iyer said at the toss, and Rohit Sharma had asked them to do just that. The side with the lowest scoring rate in the powerplay this IPL produced their best six-over return of 64 for 1. At a solid launching pad of 123 for 2 after 13 overs, KKR had good reason to eye a total in excess of 200.

When their captain fell caught-behind to a ripping leg-break from Murugan Ashwin first ball of the 14th, out jogged Andre Russell at No 5. KKR wanted their powerful allrounder to face many more deliveries than he ordinarily would. Russell scythed his first ball over extra cover for a couple, and sent the second one just over a jumping long-on’s reach. The gauntlet had been thrown down immediately.