IPL 2018: 3 KXIP players who flopped against KKR

Kings XI Punjab clashed with the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Holkar Stadium in Indore yesterday. Put into bat first, Kolkata Knight Riders amassed a massive total of 245/6 in their allocated 20 overs. This was largely due to some breathtaking strokeplay by Sunil Narine (75 off 36) and skipper Dinesh Karthik, who blazed his way to 50 off 23 balls towards the latter half of the innings.

In reply, Kings XI got off to a good start thanks to their openers Chris Gayle and KL Rahul. But 2 wickets in successive deliveries from Andre Russell in the 6th over changed the course of the match. In the end, Kings XI Punjab managed to reach 214/8, falling short by 31 runs.

Let us look at 3 KXIP players who flopped miserably in the game:

#3 Ravi Ashwin

Young KXIP sensation, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, was injured in the 4th over when he tried to sway away from a fierce straight hit from Sunil Narine. The bowler got hit on his right hand which resulted in an injury, forcing him to go off the field. Skipper Ashwin took up the responsibility of completing the over. To his surprise, Narine greeted him with a six over long on and then followed it up by smashing a boundary straight down the ground.

Once the power play was done, Ashwin brought himself back into the attack. But he found himself once again at the receiving end as both Robin Uthappa and Narine clobbered him for boundaries at regular intervals. Uthappa, in particular, was very severe on the off-spinner as he peppered the legside field.

On a flat deck, where variation was the need of the hour, Ashwin kept pitching the ball up and had to pay the price. By the end of KKR's innings, his bowling figures read 2.4-0-36-0, which is a very poor effort.

Although the off-spinner made amends with the bat by scoring 45 runs off just 22 deliveries, it was too little too late as the damage had already been done.

#2 Axar Patel

Chris Lynn was dismissed just before the power-play and Kings XI Punjab had a golden opportunity to peg back the scoring rate. Axar Patel, who has been very good with the ball in the middle overs, was introduced into the bowling attack to keep a check on the scoring rate and pick up wickets. However, he bowled poor half volleys to both Sunil Narine and Robin Uthappa. It was meat and drink for both the batsmen as they smashed the left arm spinner all over the Holkar Stadium.

Despite the field being spread out and the fielders placed near the boundary, Axar Patel darted the ball towards the stumps and the batsmen made full use of it by smashing the ball over the fence. Axar's bowling figures read 4-0-52-0. He conceded 5 boundaries and 3 sixes in his quota of 4 overs

#1 Mayank Agarwal

In reply to KKR's 245, Kings XI got off to a great start. Openers Chris Gayle and KL Rahul gave their team the perfect platform by scoring at more than 10 per over during the power-play.

Unfortunately, Chris Gayle got out in the last over of the power-play trying to hook a bouncer from Andre Russell that caught a thick edge and was grabbed by the wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik. Gayle was dismissed for 21 and out walked Mayank Agarwal to the crease.

Agarwal, who was picked up by his franchise following stellar performances in the domestic circuit, got out off the very first ball he faced while trying to hook a short delivery from Andre Russell, which was caught by the fielder at the deep midwicket boundary.

He was in no balance whatsoever to play the shot and hooked it completely blind. When the need of the hour was to partner KL Rahul and resurrect the innings, Agarwal played a poor shot and got out.