Thunderstorms and rain had the last say at the Eden on Saturday as Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings could finish with just a point apiece. The game was officially called off around 11pm.
Not a ball was possible after inclement weather halted play with the Knight Riders seven without loss in one over in response to the Kings’ formidable 201/4 after the visitors opted to bat first.
Before the unrelenting rain, force of the thunderstorms was such that the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) groundstaff struggled to keep the covers in place. Some portions of the covers, bought from England, were also damaged a bit.
“Around 85 groundsmen were on the field and gave their best. But the storm came all of a sudden and such was its force that our groundsmen just couldn’t get enough
time to sort things out,” CAB president Snehasish Ganguly said later.
“We still have time, though, to have those covers repaired by the time of the next game here (on May 4 against Rajasthan Royals).”
Earlier, players of both teams wore black armbands in solidarity with those slain in the Pahalgam terror attack. A minute’s silence was also observed during practice before the start of play.
Tough task
For the Knights, they need to win all their remaining five matches to be assured of a playoffs berth. Doing so will help them finish on 17 points, but that certainly is a very hard task, considering how erratic they have been in their campaign this season.
The Knights’ place in the playoffs isn’t guaranteed even if they win four games. Fifteen points may not be enough, as it will most probably come down to the net run rate. The Knights’ net run rate (0.212), however, isn’t too bad as it’s not in the negative like that of the other teams in the lower half of the table.
“Unfortunately, the game couldn’t proceed any further. We could’ve given our best to win it and carry forward the momentum in our next game (against Delhi Capitals at the Kotla on Tuesday). Nonetheless, we still managed to get a point,” pacer Vaibhav
Arora, who finished with best figures among the KKR bowlers with 2/34, said at the news conference.
“We want to look at the positive side. In the end, the situation could be such that we are level with any one of the teams in terms of number of wins. And then this one point may go on to make a difference,” Vaibhav added.
Opening stand
Kings’ opener Priyansh Arya couldn’t convert his starts following that brilliant 103 against the Chennai Super Kings. However, on a slowish Eden wicket on Saturday, Priyansh (69 off 35 balls) unleashed a few delightful strokes and stitched a dominant 120-run opening partnership with Prabhsimran Singh in just 11.4 overs.
Prabhsimran (83 off 49 balls) also did a fine job with the bat, especially with his aggression over the Knight Riders’ premier spinner Varun Chakravarthy.
For the Knights, making two changes in the XI by bringing in Rovman Powell and left-arm quick Chetan Sakariya in place of Moeen Ali and Ramandeep Singh, respectively, their bowlers did well to pull things back a little towards the end of the Kings’ innings. They could have dismissed former Knight and current Punjab captain Shreyas Iyer, too, if not for a dropped catch from Vaibhav when the former was on 12.
Empty seats
When there weren’t any signs of rain, the turnout at Eden on a Saturday evening was still short of 40,000. The exact numbers? 34,040. One could spot quite a few empty seats at blocks ‘D’ ‘G’ and ‘J’. High ticket prices for this game were one reason, feel CAB insiders. The tickets, for this game, were priced at ₹900, 2,000, 3,500 and 5,000.