Lucknow Super Giants will take on Kolkata Knight Riders in the first match that will be played in Eden Gardens today. It will be an afternoon match and therefore it will be interesting to know if the team winning the toss would bat or ball first. Both these teams have won two matches and lost two matches. They both have equal points and the team winning today will move at the fourth position.
This makes it a very critical match for both these teams.
Lucknow Supergiant has given a target of 239 runs to Kolkata Knight Riders where Kolkata Knight Riders are batting in the second innings and are batting very aggressively. Kolkata Knight Riders scored 91 runs in the first power play, meaning that Kolkata Knight Riders batted aggressively in the power play and kept Lucknow Super Giants under pressure. If Kolkata can bat aggressively, then they will definitely win today's match very easily.
Kolkata played very well, if Kolkata could have scored just four runs, then they could have won this match today. I don't blame Kolkata Knight Riders at all because they played very well, due to which they lost by 4 runs trying to achieve the target of 239 runs today. If Kolkata Knight Riders had one or two more balls in their hands, then they could have won this match today, but anyway, this match was a very good performance and both the teams performed very well.
Chasing such a big target, Kolkata finally fought and came very close to victory, but the batsmen of Kolkata Knight Riders have to be praised, but if the bowlers of Kolkata Knight Riders could have bowled with a little more responsibility and if they could have kept the opposition between 210 and 220 runs, then maybe Kolkata Knight Riders would have won this match. As time goes on, the journey to qualify for the playoffs is getting tougher for some teams. This season I see a lot of big teams who are not performing very well and are at the bottom of the points table. Such as Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad and many other strong teams. I am most surprised by the performance of Sunrisers Hyderabad this season because with this same team they qualified for the finals last season but they are not able to do anything like that this season.
I agree with you. Kolkata Knight Riders have shown great spirit while chasing such a big target, and the batting unit deserves credit. But I also agree with you that the bowling has really let down their batsmen. Chasing a target of 239 runs is truly an impossible task for a team. In that regard, if the bowlers had reduced their run-scoring rate and conceded 20-30 fewer uns, it might have been easier for the batsmen.
Actually, there is nothing to be done, it is a game of goal-ball, and no one can say when it will come to the fore. Still, I will say that the Kolkata batsmen have performed outstandingly. From my side, I would like to express my special thanks to them.
Kolkata managed to score 234 while the target was 239. I think Kolkata definitely showed great performance in batting. There is no mistake in their batting and even though they could not win the match according to the score, they did well. While there is no room to blame the batsmen, if the Kolkata bowlers could have done better, they could have won this match.
In the match, Andre Russell bowled only 2 overs and spend 32 runs. Another bowler Spencer Johnson bowled 3 overs and spend 46 runs. Moreover, the rest of them were quite expansive. Therefore, it is natural that the responsibility for the defeat in that match will be placed solely on the bowlers.
Nicholas Pooran played a big innings of 87 runs off 36 balls in the mentioned match and the score in the match was quite high. If the Kolkata bowlers could have returned him very quickly in that match, there would have been a possibility of winning the match. Normally, in T20 matches, if a team can play one or two overs aggressively, the situation changes, and if a bowler can deliver one or two overs well, the match can go under their control.