After the clash between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders, Australian World Cup winning all-rounder Shane Watson said that the Kolkata-based franchise did not deserve to win the match as they lost the first five wickets very quickly. Riding on an 83-run stand between Venkatesh Iyer-Manish Pandey, followed by Mitchell Starc's sheer pace magic, KKR registered a 24-run win against MI at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday.
Starc made an extraordinary comeback in the tournament, returning with a mark of 4-33. The Knight Riders ended their 12-year wait for a win at the Wankhede Stadium with a 24-run win to move closer to the play-off spots.
The former Australian cricketer claimed the Knight Riders had no right to win the match after losing the first five wickets so early in the match against five-time champions MI.
“KKR had no right to win that match tonight from the position where they were five wickets down. It just shows the fight they have and also just some of the things that happened. Some of the decisions that were made or that was bowling changes or the deployment of a batting line-up, some of those decisions were very mind-boggling to really give KKR the upper hand in a game that was just on the razor's edge at certain times,” said Watson, a former IPL champion at Chennai Super Kings, on Jio Cinema.
The 42-year-old further stated that this win will give a lot of confidence to the Shreyas Iyer-led side.
“Look, that will give KKR so much confidence to know that they don't have to be at their best and are in a position where the game is almost done and they have the fight and the determination to find their way to actually get there .” on the right side of the result,” the two-time IPL champion added.
When the match started batting first, a solid partnership stand of 83 runs between Venkatesh Iyer (70 off 52) and Manish Pandey (42 off 31) guided KKR to 169. For MI, Jasprit Bumrah was the pick of the bowlers at 3 for 18 in 3.5 overs with two wickets in one over.
In reply, MI were bowled out for 145. Starc made a great comeback in the tournament, returning with a figure of 4-33 in just 3.5 spells, handing KKR a 24-run win. Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine both finished with identical figures of 2/22, including some big wickets in the first half of the chase, putting KKR on top of the match.
After the win, KKR are at the second position in the IPL 2024 standings with 14 points. Meanwhile, MI are in ninth place with 6 points to their name.
KKR will take on Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow next Sunday.
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