The 2023 IPL season continues to chug along, and so does the KKR preview and review series. Match no. 13 featured the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and the Gujarat Titans (GT). KKR followed up a close loss with a resounding win and GT was already 2-0 to start the season. Can Kolkata keep adding to the wins column? Will Gujarat just continue their reign from last season, where they ended up as the league champions? Counting Qualifier 1 and onward, GT has now had four wins on the trot. KKR, on the other hand, does not have a streak (just this one win) and lost their only matchup against GT thus far. Links to the entire series will be provided below as always.
Photo Cred: YouTube- Sports Fact
Match Information and Result
Date– April 9th, 2023.
Stadium– Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
Photo Cred: Walter P Moore |
Toss– GT won the toss, chose to bat.
Result– KKR won by three wickets.
Player of the Match– Rinku Singh (KKR).
Scores– First innings: GTÂ 204/4 (20). Second innings: KKR 207/7 (20).
Photo Cred: InsideSport.IN (Rinku)
Article-Specific Key
Pre-Match Playing XIs, Substitutes, and Impact Players
Gujarat Titans
- Shubman Gill RHB, OB
- Wriddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper) RHB
- Sai Sudharsan LHB, LB
- Vijay Shankar RHB, RAM
- David Miller (overseas- South Africa) LHB, OB
- Rahul Tewatia LHB, LB
- Abhinav Manohar RHB, LBG
- Rashid Khan (overseas- Afghanistan) RHB, LBG
- Alzarri Joseph (overseas- West Indies/Antigua) RHB, RAF
- Yash Dayal RHB, LAMF
- Mohammed Shami RHB, RAF
Available Subs–
- Josh Little (overseas- Ireland) RHB, LAFM
- Jayant Yadav RHB, OB
- Srikar Bharat RHB
- Mohit Sharma RHB, RAM
- Matthew Wade (overseas- Australia) LHB, RAM
Impact Player selection– Josh Little: Replaced Sai Sudharsan, bowled four overs.
Photo Cred: NDTV Sports (Rashid)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Photo Cred: Hindustan Times (Gill)
Kolkata Knight Riders
- Rahmanullah Gurbaz (overseas- Afghanistan) (wicketkeeper) RHB
- Nitish Rana (captain) LHB, RAM & OB
- Narayan Jagadeesan RHB
- Rinku Singh LHB, OB
- Andre Russell (overseas- West Indies/Jamaica) RHB, RAF
- Shardul Thakur RHB, RAM
- Sunil Narine (overseas- West Indies/Trinidad and Tobago) LHB, OB
- Lockie Ferguson (overseas- New Zealand) RHB, RAF
- Umesh Yadav RHB, RAF
- Suyash Sharma RHB, LB
- Varun Chakravarthy RHB, LBG
Available Subs–
- Mandeep Singh RHB, RAM
- Anukul Roy LHB, SLA
- Vaibhav Arora RHB, RAFM
- Venkatesh Iyer LHB, RAM
- David Wiese (overseas- Namibia, born in and previously represented South Africa) RHB, RAMF
Impact Player selection– Venkatesh Iyer: Replaced Suyash Sharma, batted at no. 3.
Photo Cred: Social News XYZ (Jagadeesan)Â Â Â Photo Cred: Times of India (Ferguson)
A Repeat of PBKS vs. KKR?
Batting-wise, the Titans managed to have all but one player hit at a strike rate of 100.00 or more, which is always good news for the batting side. It means that the opposition bowlers were not able to slow the game down much/at any stage. PBKS were able to do more damage with their individual batters, while GT inflicted a higher total against the KKR bowlers. The chief Gujarat destructors were Sudharsan (38-ball 53) and Shankar (24-ball 63). Shankar really woke up during the last three overs of the innings, smashing 46 runs in his last 13 balls faced! Gill played a steady hand up top with his 31-ball 39 as well.
Photo Cred: Republic World (Sudharsan)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Photo Cred: Times of India (Shankar)
As if One Roller-Coaster of an Innings Wasn’t Enough…
The game against RCB had so many ebbs and flows already that I was hoping to see some stability from that game onward. Well, I didn’t get it immediately, as I had to wait for four overs to go through for some sort of stability to arrive. It came in the form of a partnership between Venkatesh Iyer, making his second impact sub appearance of the season, and captain Nitish Rana. After 100 runs scored between them, Rana would depart five runs shy of his 50. What came next was just pure chaos, first for KKR and then for GT.
Photo Cred: News18 (Iyer)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Photo Cred: The Indian Express (Rashid)
16 balls after Rana got out, Iyer would lose his wicket too. That was in the fifth ball of the 15th over. Gujarat captain Rashid had been taken apart for an uncharacteristic 35 runs off his three overs but he showed again why he is such a dangerous bowler. He took a hat-trick of three dangerous KKR batters (Russell, Narine, Thakur) to almost effectively end the game. This happened in the first three overs of the 16th over. That means the Knight Riders lost a total of four wickets in a span of five deliveries, and that too of the best hitters! However, KKR wasn’t about to give up just yet, as you will read below.
Are We the Kolkata ‘Luck Riders’?
Three games into the season and three very interesting results for Kolkata. Luck has been with us in all three games so far. In game 1, we could’ve had a worse loss but the rain helped end the game early, which gave us only a single-digit run loss. In game 2, RCB’s lack of discipline while bowling and ‘Lord Thakur’ were the main reasons (luck-wise) for KKR. Nine wickets from our spinners also helped while we were bowling. We rode the luck again in game 3 of our season as well! We might as well rebrand ourselves as the ‘Luck Riders’!
Photo Cred: myKhel (Thakur)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Photo Cred: Times of India (Rinku)
Last game, it was ‘Lord Thakur’, while this time it was ‘Lord Rinku‘! What Rinku Singh managed to do is nothing short of incredible. KKR needed 48 runs in the last three overs of the game and 50 off the last 21 balls. That last part is relevant because Umesh Yadav came to the crease to partner with Rinku at that time. Rinku would go on to hit 45 off 15 of those balls, including 30 off the last five and 40 off the last seven! For such a big target needing to be chased, Rinku just stood his ground and muscled the last few deliveries he faced. If this isn’t called luck, I don’t know what else could.
The Positives and the Negatives
Kolkata Knight Riders
Pros:
- If someone has a down game, another person is always there to step up. There has yet to be a full-on collapse for us.
- Against PBKS, Iyer and Russell each had 30+ run contributions while we were going through a period of struggle.
- Against RCB, it was Gurbaz stepping up at the top, Rinku in the middle, and Thakur in the end. Two of them got 50+ runs, and all of them had at least 46 runs scored.
- Against GT, it was a combination of Iyer, Rana, and Rinku to save the game. Iyer top-scored with 83, and Rana and Rinku got 45+.
- Narine’s back in the wickets column! Sunil Narine was, at one point, one of the most deadly bowlers to face in the world. He would be clinical on two fronts, wicket-taking and limiting batters’ runs. However, he was suspended twice for having an illegal action. After he had to remodel his bowling action in 2014 and 2020, he wasn’t quite as deadly anymore, and batters were seeming to figure him out more often. Regardless, he has always been economical even though he could not add many wickets for his sides. Seeing him get a three-wicket haul after quite some time was a sight for sore eyes!
- Despite the overall reputation of the KKR seamers, Umesh Yadav has been a good constant. He might’ve only picked up one wicket in three games but he has always kept his econ around the 8-ish mark, which I value quite highly.
- Venkatesh Iyer’s form. For how bad his form was in IPL 2022, what we’ve been seeing so far from him is a reminder of how his IPL 2021 season was. It seems that times have changed, so Iyer is no longer an opening option. However, if he is performing for his domestic side (Madhya Pradesh) in a middle-order role, then I say let him also do the same for KKR. He has done well at no. 3 (40-ball 83 vs. GT) and no. 4 (28-ball 34 vs. PBKS), so let’s keep him around these positions.
- Rana’s captaincy decisions have worked out more or less. He’s been a terrific replacement for Shreyas Iyer, and it’s good for him to keep getting this valuable captaincy experience under his belt for the future.
- Using Suyash and Iyer interchangeably as the impact subs have worked out, as both of them were able to make the required impacts for our side (Iyer with his valuable runs, Suyash with his wickets).
Photo Cred: CricketAddictor (Narine)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Photo Cred: Deccan Herald (Iyer)
Cons:
- Overall, not the best bowling performance. No bowler had an economy rate under 8.00. Only four wickets were taken as well, all from spinners. We also gave up 16 extra runs, with 10 of them being wides.
- So far, KKR bowlers have taken 19 wickets in three games. Only four of them came from our seamers, so it has quite literally been “spin to win” for the Knight Riders.
- Economically, the three spinners used (Chakravarthy, Narine, Suyash) have outperformed the four seamers (Yadav, Southee, Thakur, Ferguson). Spin stats: 29.4 overs bowled, 222 runs allowed, 7.57 econ. Seam stats: 28 overs, 285 runs, 10.18 econ. Our seamers give up more than two-and-a-half more runs and can’t pick up wickets…
- Jagadeesan also hasn’t worked out yet. He hit six runs in eight balls, which is better than what Mandeep Singh contributed, so he should get at least one more game. However, Rahmanullah Gurbaz has yet to find a stable opening partner.
- Volatility of the batting side. We have quite a few hit-or-miss players on the team, and it showed on Sunday. Russell, Narine, and Thakur are all very fluent strikers of the ball, choosing to take a go at the bowler from ball one. This does make them risky to depend on, however, because they could get out really early, just as they did against GT.
Photo Cred: Republic World
Gujarat Titans
Pros:
- Good batting overall.
- Solid opening pair:
- Solid middle-order:
- Sudharsan- 53(38), 3 4s, 2 6s, 139.47 SR
- Manohar- 14(8), 3 4s, 175 SR
- Shankar- 63(24), 4 4s, 5 6s, 262.50 SR
- Sudharsan has been a revelation in the IPL so far, continuing his run of form from last season. Shankar has also had some good batting so far, almost reminiscent of his 2017-19 season stats.
- A relatively solid bowling performance. Other than Dayal (who we’ll get to later), Little might have left fans wanting more of his bowling. At least he was able to get a wicket early in the game to put KKR in trouble.
- Shami- 1/28 (4), 7.00 econ
- Got the wicket of the dangerous Gurbaz early.
- Joseph- 2/27 (4), 6.75 econ
- Struck twice at key points in the game: got Rana and Iyer out.
- Rashid- 3/37 (4), 9.25 econ.
- He picked up a hat-trick and his last over only went for two runs after he gave up 35 in his first three.
- Shami- 1/28 (4), 7.00 econ
Photo Cred: CricketAddictor (Sudharsan)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Photo Cred: MoneyBall (Joseph)
Cons:
- The biggest of them all: Yash Dayal. People might be saying the young man needs some backing and that dropping him after one bad game is a bit unfair. However, he has not had just one bad game so far this season. He was only used to bowl one over each against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Delhi Capitals (DC). He gave up 14 and 12 runs respectively, getting hit for three sixes during these overs.
- Honestly saying, he should have been dropped already before his 69-run debacle in this matchup. A ready-made replacement was already waiting in the ranks, in my opinion: Shivam Mavi. Mavi, being a former KKR player, could’ve also had some clues on how to tackle his former teammates.
- Dayal had given up the second-most amount of runs in an IPL game with his 69 runs in four overs. Maybe he should’ve been given more game time in the earlier two games, but what’s done is done. He didn’t do much when given his opportunity to do so. Even in this game, the least amount of runs he gave up in his four-over spell was eight.
- With all this being said, the young bowler still has some nice stats overall and can yet be a valuable asset to the Titans. I just feel like he does need at least a game or two off to rethink his strategies once more if he is to play a further role this season.
- Other than Dayal really, I would have to nitpick closely if I wanted to find further cons in this otherwise solid GT lineup.
- If I had to nitpick I would point out these two players: Hardik Pandya and Josh Little.
- With Pandya, he has scored 13 runs in 11 balls in two games. While bowling, he was able to recover from his three-over, 28-run spell against CSK with 18 runs in three overs against DC.
- As for Little, he has at least picked up two wickets in his three games so far. However, he’s been expensive, going at 10+ runs-an-over twice now.
- If I had to nitpick I would point out these two players: Hardik Pandya and Josh Little.
Photo Cred: Free Press Journal
