IPL 2018: Kolkata Knight Riders will be buoyed by Andre Russell's fireworks, but failure to close out matches is a worry

What an absolute humdinger it was at the Chepauk on Tuesday and what a grand homecoming it was for Chennai Super Kings (CSK). And an emotional one too. There were all kinds of controversies around the hosting of this match, with the shadow of protests over the Cauvery water dispute looming large. It is always sad when non-cricketing reasons tend to overshadow a contest between bat and ball, but that’s how politicians work, don’t they? They had tried to gain mileage from the ultra-popular cricket tournament, but the good thing is that the fans did turn up, and cricket was the true winner. Over 400 runs were scored, with both teams putting up stellar batting displays and Chennai just about pipped Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) with a ball to spare. One of the most successful teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL), CSK have started their comeback season with a bang, winning two close contests on the trot. [caption id=“attachment_4427333” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] KKR’s Andre Russell (L) rects during the IPL 2018 match against CSK at the Chepauk Stadium in Chennai. AFP[/caption] For KKR, though, it was a speed-breaker of sorts, after the top-notch performance in their season-opener at home. However, there is was no reason to think of the Chennai loss as anything more than a road-bump. KKR were playing a team against whom they have traditionally under-performed, having won only six out of their 16 matches in the IPL before this match; they were playing away, in front of a partisan Chepauk crowd. Also importantly, one of the criticisms levelled against them post the January auctions was that their batting looked markedly weak when compared to the Gautam Gambhir era of 2011-2017. But the Knights proved for the second match running that it is an aspect of their game that they need not be worried about. Most importantly, they fought CSK toe-to-toe and could well have emerged winner another day. KKR, therefore, can hold their heads high. However, what they should also do is to introspect on why they ended up, as the cliche goes, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. They were the firm favourites, with a cushion of 16 runs, when R Vinay Kumar ran in to bowl the last over. But the Karnataka captain started off with a ‘gift’ and finished with another, as Dwayne Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja helped themselves to two sixes each, and that was that. The first delivery was a  high full toss and Bravo smashed it over the ropes. What’s worse, it was called a no ball, with a free hit in tow. The last ball was another ‘friendly’ one, right in the slot for Jadeja to free his arms and send the ball sailing over long-on. Oh, did I mention, there was a wide in between too? In more ways than one, Vinay Kumar’s last over on Tuesday should be a primer for how not to bowl at the ‘death’. His opening over was not too great either. There were too many short and length deliveries outside off, which were taken for runs. As Geoffrey Boycott would have said, his mum would have played Vinay with ease! KKR might want to consider the two highly-talented India Under-19 pacers warming the bench, Kamlesh Nagakoti and Shivam Mavi, in place of Vinay in the next match. The good thing about Nagarkoti is that he can bat a bit as well. KKR skipper Dinesh Karthik, who impressed with the marshalling of his resources against RCB, missed a trick by not saving his best bowler Sunil Narine for the last. He should have planned in a way that Narine bowled the penultimate over and Tom Curran the last. But opting for a bowler, who had leaked runs by the torrents in the first over and also in the last match, to send down the last over was not a good call by Karthik. Also the KKR team management would have to take a decision on whether they want to go with Curran or Mitchell Johnson for most of the matches. Johnson had shown against RCB that he still has a lot of offer even after having retired from international cricket, and Curran did not exactly set the stage on fire at the Chepauk. Also after the successful experiment with Nitish Rana as a partnership-breaker in the last match, one expected to see more of him at the Chepauk too. Rana had got rid of the dangerous Virat Kohli and AB de Viliers off consecutive deliveries and could well have been used to separate Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sam Billings when they were putting up that outstanding stand. The Kolkata team would be happy though at the fact that they have got back the Andre Russell they so sorely missed last season. Coming in at the fall of Rinku Singh’s wicket at the halfway stage of the innings, Russell plundered 88 unbeaten runs off 36 balls, with 11 sixes. He had shown that he was in fine batting fettle in the last match too and it was an explosion in Chennai. The West Indies all-rounder was unlucky that Billings paid him back in kind, matching shot for shot when it was Chennai’s turn to bat, eventually taking Chennai over the line, but Russell at No 6 or 7 is a humongous advantage for Kolkata. Imagine if Chris Lynn and Russell fire together what would become of the opposition! The Knight Riders would, however, want to stamp out the bad habit of losing matches from winning positions. One vividly remembers the match against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium last year which saw them blow a golden chance to win full points. The match against CSK was an opportunity to rack up a valuable away win, which they could not take. KKR would have to be more clinical if they are to progress deep into the tournament and eventually win it.