3 mistakes KKR made in their loss to MI in IPL 2023

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) suffered their second loss in three days as they went down to the Mumbai Indians (MI) by five wickets in their IPL 2023 clash at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday, April 16.

Asked to bat by stand-in MI skipper Suryakumar Yadav, KKR rode on the back of Venkatesh Iyer's stellar century to post 185/6 in their 20 overs. It was a one-man show all the way, with Venkatesh becoming just the second player from his franchise to post a century in the league's history.

Rohit Sharma, who came in as an impact substitute in the second innings, and Ishan Kishan then got off to a flyer before Suryakumar took over. Kishan scored a 25-ball 58 while Suryakumar hit form with 43 off 25 deliveries to set the tone for MI's second consecutive win in IPL 2023.

Having lost their third match in the tournament, KKR now have some work to do going forward in IPL 2023. Let's take a look at three reasons behind their loss to MI.

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#1 Slowdown with the bat towards the back end

KKR never got the finishing kick that they were after in their IPL 2023 clash against MI (Picture Credits: BCCI).

When the second strategic timeout was taken during KKR's batting innings, they were well-placed at 135/4 in 14 overs. Thereafter, though, they never got the finishing kick they were after as they mustered just 50 runs off the final six overs.

Hrithik Shokeen and Piyush Chawla tightened the screws, conceding just 11 runs collectively across the 15th and 16th overs. Venkatesh slowed down too and just as he looked to pick up again, he perished to Riley Meredith, who conceded just five runs off the 18th over.

Andre Russell, who has been starved of runs in IPL 2023, struck a couple of lusty blows but even he failed to get his timing right. Death bowling is arguably MI's weakest suit and the fact that KKR failed to negate that cost them dearly.

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#2 Holding Lockie Ferguson back until the 11th over

Lockie Ferguson was surprisingly introduced late into the attack, by which time KKR had plenty of work to do (Picture Credits: BCCI).

KKR failed to make early inroads into the MI batting lineup and were always on the back foot thereafter. Yet, that it took Nitish Rana 11 overs to turn to Lockie Ferguson was rather bemusing.

He followed the fundamental strategy of turning to Sunil Narine after Rohit and Kishan got MI off to a superb start. With Narine himself failing to execute his plans and dishing out plenty in the slot, the Knight Riders were facing an ominous task on hand.

Rana gambled with rookie wrist-spinner Suyash Sharma in the powerplay and it paid off with Rohit's wicket. It is well-known that high pace is something that Kishan finds tough to deal with and yet, Ferguson, who can fire rockets upwards of 150 kph, wasn't summoned to put a stop to his onslaught.

Even after Kishan's dismissal, the entry of Tilak Varma, who is an outstanding hitter of spin, didn't prompt Rana to turn to Ferguson. By the time the Kiwi speedster came on in the 11th over, MI were coasting at 110/2 and the end result was a mere formality.

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#3 Turning to Andre Russell as the last roll of the dice

Andre Russell's lone over against MI went for plenty (File image).

With MI's score reading 130/2 in 12 overs, Russell was called upon as potentially the last roll of the dice. It was a risky move, considering that he limped off the field in KKR's previous clash against the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH).

While Russell is a game-changer with the ball, this could have jeopardized his participation for the rest of IPL 2023. Thankfully, that wasn't the case, but he still went for 17 runs with Suryakumar unleashing his trademark pick-up shot over fine leg.

Perhaps it would have been wise to turn to Shardul Thakur instead, considering that he has the knack of picking up wickets in the middle overs. It was an option that Rana failed to explore, especially given how MI were crusing at that juncture.

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What must KKR work on after their loss to MI in IPL 2023? Have your say in the comments section below!

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