Kolkata Knight Riders had entered Saturday’s match towards Gujarat Titans in IPL 2023 at Eden Gardens on the again of an optimistic 21-run victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore on the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
But all of that optimism evaporated fully as they misplaced to Gujarat by seven wickets. With the bat, Rahmanullah Gurbaz slammed a scintillating 39-ball 81 and Andre Russell smashed a 19-ball 34.
Apart from the duo collectively scoring 115 runs off 58 balls, no different Kolkata batter stepped up as they made solely 179/7, one thing which captain Nitish Rana rued after the defeat.
“I think we were 20-25 runs short. If we keep dropping catches against big teams, I do not think the result will be any different. No one apart from Gurbaz and Russell got going. There were not enough partnerships and had we had a partnership of 40-50 runs, the score could have been more,” he stated within the post-match presentation ceremony.
Kolkata had saved Gujarat to 98/3 in 12 overs in defence of 179/6. But Vijay Shankar stepped up on the proper time to beat a scare within the center overs and smash a blazing 51 off simply 24 balls whereas sharing an 87-run partnership with David Miller to finish the chase with 13 balls to spare. Kolkata had additionally dropped Miller’s catch at 26, one thing which proved to be decisive.
“We kept them quiet in the middle overs but against such teams, if you do not take your chances, you will end up on the losing side. If we do well in all three departments, only then will we have a chance,” added Rana.
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— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) April 29, 2023
Rana additionally urged Kolkata to seize the small moments within the sport very properly.
“Unless we do that, the result will not be in our favour. I feel the small moments are more important than the big moments. If you do these small things well, like taking catches and fielding well, there are more chances of victory.”
Kolkata’s subsequent match in IPL 2023 will probably be towards Sunrisers Hyderabad in a return fixture on the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Thursday.
