What’s the story?
With rain almost playing spoilsport, the match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders went until the wee hours of Thursday morning. The cut-off rule that allowed the game to be played till 1:30 am was lambasted by Nathan Coulter-Nile, the star for the KKR side.
Also read: IPL 2017, Eliminator: SRH vs KKR, Player Ratings
Speaking of the match going on till late, he said: “I think there is so much time, rules probably need to be looked at, I mean it’s 2 am, you can’t be playing cricket at 2 o’clock.
When asked about how things went for him post that game, he said, "It was a tough one, I'd never had a concussion before so I didn't know what to expect or what was going on."
"I was just really tired, headaches, I got a bit sick but there wasn't rehab or anything like that, I just had to lay in bed and wait to get right. I wasn't playing this morning, but I woke up and felt pretty good so I put my hand up for selection and the coaching staff went with me.”
In case you didn’t know...
Coulter-Nile has been through an injury-plagued few years, the concussion being the latest intrusion. The KKR pacer brought to light that a nasty concussion sidelined him for the latter stages of the regular season in the IPL, after the player-of-the-match performance in the eliminator against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, Coulter-Nile picked up three wickets, restricting them to 128, which after rain, revised KKR’s target to 48 off six overs.
In the match against Rising Pune Supergiant, Coulter-Nile was welcomed to the crease with an icky blow on the grill from a Dan Christian short ball and did not play the following three games as he was diagnosed with a concussion.
he heart of the matter
Coulter-Nile’s appearance for KKR in the eliminator was his first since their loss to RPS in early May. It was a timely return for the pacer, who came back making a statement, taking 3-20.
He bagged the wickets of crucial players, Kane Williamson and Vijay Shankar. Not only was he handy with the ball but also showed how good an athlete he was by taking a stunning diving catch in his follow-through dismissing Chris Jordan.
He considers himself a tad bit lucky for he claims most of the credit for the wickets he grabbed goes to the pitch since the wicket wasn’t one where batsman could hit freely.
What’s next?
After outperforming the Sunrisers in the Eliminator, the Knight Riders will be facing the Mumbai Indians in the 2nd Qualifier at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on the 19th of May. Coulter-Nile will be the aggressor with the ball for KKR and will be hoping to continue in the supreme form that he is in at present.
Author’s Take
It indeed has been a bumpy year or so for Coulter-Nile. However, his return has been exemplary and he will be hoping the rough patch has passed him by. The KKR skipper, Gautam Gambhir and the team management including Coulter-Nile in the playing XI after he said he was well and up for the tie hours before the game commenced only goes to show how much they needed the talented bowler for the knockout game.
Considering his present form, a clinical performance is expected from the speedster in the game(s) ahead for the Knight Riders.
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