Sunil Narine’s batting position has been a topic of much debate in the Kolkata Knight Riders’ ranks.
He had successfully opened the batting with Phil Salt during their triumphant campaign in IPL 2024. However, he has since not been a regular at the top of the order and dropped to No. 8 against Sunrisers Hyderabad at Eden Gardens on Thursday.
Two consecutive sixes off the first two balls he faced opened up the match for KKR with 76 needed off 36 balls. The Sunrisers suddenly felt the heat, but Narine’s dismissal in the next over shut the doors on the home franchise.
Needing 227 for victory, KKR fell short by 65 runs, their second defeat in as many matches. The loss might haunt them since it came with 24 balls remaining.
Impact player Finn Allen provided a robust start to their chase, but things fell apart following his departure in the second over. Ajinkya Rahane’s role as an opener is increasingly coming under scrutiny too, as he managed 8 off 10 balls on Thursday.
The captain had smashed 67 off 40 in the opener, but the last 31 of those had come off 22 balls. The team management needs to solve the opening muddle quickly before they lose the plot in the long run.
Where will Rahane bat if Allen and Tim Seifert open the innings? The captain often struggles with his strike-rate once the field restrictions are removed. The support staff has a lot of work to do.
Batting blues
If KKR’s bowling lacks penetrating abilities, their batting failed to click once Harsh Dubey pulled off a stunning reflex action catch to get rid of Allen. Angkrish Raghuvanshi showed promise, but a horrible mix-up ended his cameo.
The same applies for Rinku Singh. Just when he was starting to open up, he fell to a well-laid-out trap by the Sunrisers. His cut to a slower one from Nitish Reddy went straight into the hands of short third man.
If Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma provided the Sunrisers a rollicking start with 84/1 in the Powerplay, the Knight Riders batters slightly queered their pitch, reaching 74/3 in the first six overs.
Engrossing contest
Two players who were nowhere near their best tried to prove their superiority — Varun Chakravarthy vs Abhishek. The contest proved to be intriguing.
Abhishek has struggled once the bowlers targeted his rib cage with short-pitched deliveries, restricting the free flow of his bat. In the IPL 2026 opener against RCB, Abhishek managed just 7. But he found the right start on Thursday against an inexperienced KKR attack.
Abhishek was in his elements against Varun and smashed him for two sixes and three boundaries in his opening over.
It was mainly because of the 82-run opening stand off 34 balls between Abhishek and Travis Head that the Sunrisers managed to reach 226 despite the lull in the middle overs when they lost three wicket within seven runs.
