Match report in a Tweet

KKR won the game in the powerplay, not with the bat but with the ball, something that comes as a surprise to the regular watchers. Last year, KKR were terrible in the powerplay, where they really left Pat Cummins with all the work in the first six overs. However, with Harbhajan, Shakib and Prasidh Krishna, they turned things around, with twin wickets in the first three overs, which led to their victory. 

SRH put the wrong egg in the powerplay basket

While they missed Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s services last year, this year SRH have both Bhuvneshwar and Sandeep Sharma, two bowlers who have picked the most of their wickets in the powerplay. But let’s get this straight, pairing them in Chennai, on a Chepauk wicket where they were bowling slower deliveries in the second over - really takes away the point of playing Sandeep, who is considered as a fine powerplay bowler. In today’s game, he was anything but a specialist, especially with the way Nitish Rana was calling shots against him, manipulating the bowler to bowl to his strengths. To put things into perspective, at the venue, the right-arm seamer has played three games, picking up the solitary wicket, conceding 11.08 RPO and at an average of 109, which in no way suggests that he should be a starter, even after his exploits in the 2020 edition of the IPL. Given that Sunrisers decided to field Nabi, who primarily has picked up his wickets in the powerplay, having Sandeep in the team wasn’t reasonable.

If there was one lesson from last year’s IPL, it is to never trust KKR and their plans, which seemingly fell flat on their face. But a new year prompted something never expected, a change in intent at the top of the order. While Shubman Gill carried on his form from last year, taking it slow, there was Nitish Rana at the other end, who launched an assault, never seen before from the southpaw. KKR had the worst powerplay stats (40.5 runs) last season but not anymore, with a clear plan this time around, they got off the box quickly, scoring 50 runs in the powerplay. What’s more interesting was Rana’s attacking nature, where the southpaw really took on the slower deliveries from the Men in Orange and converted that into pacy boundaries. While he finished the last season as a prime contender for the opener, he has sealed the debate ultimately for the season, with his 56-ball 80. 

Introduction of Varun Chakravarthy

Hot-take Zone

SRH are right in backing Bairstow over Williamson

STATS time: In 2021, Williamson has played five games for New Zealand, scoring 82 runs at an average of 16.4 with a sub-par strike rate of 122.4, scoring just eight boundaries. On the other hand, there is Bairstow, who has scored 118 runs, averaging 39.3 at a strike rate of 137.2. Not just on the basis of recency but on the basis of their last year scores, middle-overs is one segment where they really struggled. For England, Bairstow was the bright spot, not just in the T20I series but also the ODI series. 

So for that reason and all the reasons of fielding Mohammad Nabi, on turning tracks, in both Chennai and Delhi, SRH did the right decision of backing Bairstow, as they dropped him last year to field Jason Holder. 

The MVP - Nitish Rana

Match Frenzy O Meter - Bat-istic

This game was totally tilted towards the batsmen, as the KKR batsmen proved from time to time in the first innings. A very unlikely Chepauk wicket, where the batsmen really enjoyed their outing where runs were on offer at every nook and corner. It didn’t stop there in the first innings as the second innings picked pace from the first, where Jonny Bairstow and Manish Pandey took over the scoring rate. On top of that, Abdul Samad's cameo really turned the screw around before Russell sealed the deal.