Kolkata Knight Riders lost first of their back-to-back matches against Mumbai Indians by 13 runs at the Wankhede Stadium. At one stage the visitors were at 111/2 in 12 overs, but lost the plot with the wicket of Robin Uthappa in the following over.
While there were many talking points from the match, here's what Dinesh Karthik had to say on key decisions including Sunil Narine, Andre Russell and what happened in the last over of KKR's innings. Excerpts:
On Andre Russell not bowling the final over
DK: He has a certain role in the team. At what stage of the game he bowls. So we are pretty clear with that. Today he bowled well. But there are some days when he goes for boundaries. So over a period of time, we have kind of figured out, where he exactly bowls and how to get the best out of him.
Why didn't KKR open with Sunil Narine?
DK: Yeah, he wasn't feeling well. That's why, he went out of the field in the 18-19th over. He wasn't feeling really well, so he wasn't able to open.
What happened in the last over?
DK: Look, I felt that I could take on Bumrah. I had the belief that I can hit him for a couple of sixes and I backed myself to get 20 runs from the last over. Sometimes it doesn't go your way, we had got 14 runs from that over. A little tough task. If we had Russell at that stage things would have been little different. But you know he got out at a good ball. Credit to Bumrah, he bowled really well.
Our knights are back at Eden Gardens, and will look to avenge the loss against Mumbai Indians on Wednesday (April 9). Despite a loss, KKR have a strong chance to make it to the play-offs. With two home games against Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals they will look to seal the opportunity and stay safe for the play-offs.
