Kolkata Knight Riders is officially out of the Playoffs race after failing to chase 177 against LSG at Eden Gardens. KKR’s hopes for Playoffs qualification have already scattered after a crushing nine-wicket defeat at home against RR. Now, KKR joined Punjab Kings, Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad to be out of the race for the playoffs. KKR have played 14 games this season, collecting 12 points after winning six games and losing eight. They are currently in seventh place in the point table.
LSG have officially secured the Playoff spot with this 1-run win. With 17 points from 14 games, LSG secured the 3rd spot and will play the Eliminator. LSG is the third team behind Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans to qualify for the Playoffs.
KKR’s Journey through the Season
The start of IPL for Kolkata was not good. They had to suffer a defeat by 7 runs (DLS method) against Punjab Kings. But they won two consecutive matches against RCB and GT by 81 runs and 3 wickets. Against RCB they set a target of 204 while against GT they chased down 204 runs by the heroic performance of Rinku Singh. After winning two matches KKR were looking in a different form. But they had to face four consecutive losses against SRH, MI, DC and CSK. These losses left KKR behind in the points table. After that, KKR played 7 games and ended their IPL campaign with 4 wins against RCB, SRH, PKBS and CSK.
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KKR’s Batters in IPL 2024
While batting in mostly death overs or the fourth place Rinku Singh was the top-scorer for the KKR. He played 14 matches and scored 474 runs with an average of 59.25 and a strike rate of 149.5. He also smashed four fifties in his 14 innings with an unbeaten 67 as his best. After Rinku Singh, skipper Nitish Rana is in second place with 413 runs in 14 matches with 31.76 as an average. With 141 as a strike rate, he hit three half-centuries in his 14 innings. Venkatesh Iyer came in on the third spot with 404 runs in his 14 games with an average of 28.85. Iyer also smashed his maiden ton with two fifties at a strike rate of 145.84. While talking about Russel then this season he was in his worst form. He played 14 matches and scored 227 runs at an average of 20.63. He didn’t even score any fifty and played the role of finisher. Meanwhile, Rahmanullah Gurbaz played 11 matches and scored 227 runs with two fifties. Jason Roy played only 8 matches and scored 285 runs at a strike rate of 152.
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KKR’s Bowlers in IPL 2024
If we talk about the bowling performances of KKR then only Varun Chakravarthy seemed in good form. This legbreaker spinner played 14 matches and picked up 20 wickets, beat 4/15, with an economy of 8.4. After Varun, the second-highest wicket-taker for KKR is Sunil Narine. Sunil Narine picked only 11 wickets while playing 14 matches at a good economy of 7.97. While Suyash Sharma played 11 matches and took 10 wickets with an economy of 8.23. If we talk about Andre Russel then he also seemed insipid with the ball. In his 9 innings, he picked only 7 wickets with a worst economy of 11.34. Moreover, Shardul Thakur, who played 11 matches, picked up 7 wickets at an economy of 10.47. Meanwhile, Umesh Yadav, the main fast bowler of KKR, played only 8 matches due to an injury and scalped only 1 wicket.
To sum up we can say that it was the middle-order batsmen like Nitish Rana, Venkatesh Iyer and Rinku Singh who showed their impressive performance. Had Andre Russell and Sunil Narine contributed with bat and ball, the team’s position in the points table would have been different. Another weakness, which we saw in KKR, was their fast bowlers, who could not perform as per the requirement of their team.
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