As defending champion Kolkata Knight Riders were excluded from the controversy for the playoff berth after their match against Royal Challengers Bangalore, former Australian cricketer Aaron Finch said the team was convicted only for their elimination. Saturday’s match was a winning game for KKR as they needed to win the remaining two games to reach 15 points and expected a series of favorable results in other matches to improve their net run rate.
After a washout, a three -time champion now has 12 points from 13 games with a solitary point.
“It didn’t start well for him. Andre Russell, being a match-winner that he is so long, was batting too far for many orders of the tournament. He was not just given opportunities to impress the game.
Finch said that on 7 May, KKR dropped the Chennai Super Kings himself out after the loss of his two wickets. Batting first in that match, KKR posted 179 for 6, which looked enough on a taki surface, but CSK dug deeply to take two points in a season, while KKR saw his top-four ambitions in the tooth.
“He almost kicked himself after that last game against CSK – it was his to win. The match was almost wrapped, and they could still not cross the line, which came out as an incredible victory for Chennai. Throughout the season, there were many moments where KKR didn’t click,” Finch said.
While KKR is out of the playoff race after washouts, RCB now moves above a point collecting a point that leads his tally to 17 out of 12 games.
KKR will play Sunrisers Hyderabad in its final league stability on 25 May.
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