IPL 2019: Match 6, KKR vs KXIP - Smaller Mistakes Costed Us the Game - Ravichandran Ashwin

Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) succumbed to pressure as they went down by 28 runs against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in match 6 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Eden Gardens. Following thier loss, skipper Ravichandran Ashwin admitted that small mistakes costed them the game.

Meanwhile, Kolkata Knight Riders have made it two in two and will be brimming with confidence. Two games where Andre Russell shined them with the bat to win the games for them. He was of course very handy with the ball too. With Chris Gayle, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, David Miller, Sarfaraz Khan and Mandeep Singh around, KXIP would have backed themselves, but 218 was a bit too much. Anything around 200 would have been gettable. Rahul out to a single digit score again didn’t help matters for Punjab.

After a stunning job with the bat, Russell came back to lead the charge with the ball too. He got the better Kings XI Punjab’s Chris Gayle right at the time when he started to look dangerous. Mayank made a very good fifty but Miller was asked to do too much in the end. Punjab fell 28 runs short at the Eden Gardens but the form of David Miller will be the takeaway for them from this tie.

Previously, Sunil Narine started the proceeding for the home side. He launched an onslaught picked up by Robin Uthappa and Nitish Rana after his departure. The Indian pair added 110 runs for the third wicket to set the perfect base for the batters to come in and go hard at the bowlers. Rana’s dismissal brought Andre Russell to the middle. Although he got lucky once, Russell smashed everything that came his way. He clubbed 47 runs from 18th and 19th over to take the score to the 218-run mark making it impossible for the visitors to chase down.

Ravichandran Ashwin, who had an off game, took the blame on himself of the no-ball that gave Andre Russell another chance which he made the most out of. He also backed Varun Chakravarthy- the debutant and said that he will only grow from here.

However, Ashwin is keen to rectify the small mistakes and bounce back in the next game.

Here is what Ravichandran Ashwin said,

Look I mean we weren’t focused on small things. Small things cost you in this game. We need to be attentive to the small things for the next game. I take the blame on myself (talking about the no-ball). I should have had a look at him (Varun Chakravarthy). He, of course, was a debutant and would do better from here on. The way Varun Chakravarthy bowled in the 15th over to Uthappa and Rana was a big positive.

We also learnt coming over to KKR in terms of handling one small boundary on one side and a bigger one on the other side. Mayank batted well despite wickets going down. I thought about 200 was par for this track and that is where the smaller mistakes cost us. We played four games at Mohali and won all four over there. It is important to win games on the bounce.