IPL 2020: Match 12 – KKR vs RR – Who Said What

The 12th match of the Indian Premier League saw action in Dubai International Stadium between Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders. In the intent of improving their ranking on the points table, KKR displayed their batting show first and posted a respectable 174/6 on board. KKR won the action-packed contest by 37 runs. Young batting sensation Shubman Gill came yet again for the team’s rescue and hit a significant 47 off 34 deliveries.

Shivam Mavi was awarded the player of the match for his bowling brilliance. The cameo by Andre Russell (24 off 14) was looking too destructive at a moment but ended soon. Eoin Morgan’s quickfire knock of 34* runs at the end pushed his team to cross the 170-run mark. Jofra Archer remained too deadly in his spell as he leaked just 18 runs and knocked out Shubman Gill and Dinesh Karthik.

It was Shivam Mavi’s day from KKR

In order to hunt down the respectable target of 175, the RR batters came and went in no time. None of them could settle well on the field, and Tom Curran’s 50 off 35 balls was the only bright spot in RR’s batting line up. Shivam Mavi remained the flag bearer of KKR’s bowling section and conceded only 20 runs in four overs along with naming two dismissals to his credit. He was complimented well by his teammate Kamlesh Nagarkoti, who marked his comeback after two years.

Losing skipper, Steve Smith said

Didn’t quite go to plan. That happens in T20 cricket sometimes, we have a few areas to improve on, and keep moving forward. You could go one way or another, KKR like to chase. We planned to put their death bowling under pressure but obviously couldn’t do that as we lost wickets upfront. Few of still thought we are playing in Sharjah. It did (feel a lot different), the far side is a very big side and we didn’t see too many balls going there and the other side is slightly shorter.

We probably didn’t adapt to the dimensions and the wicket, also dropped a few catches which cost us. It is about forming whatever XI is best for the conditions we are facing, we will wait and see. Disappointing tonight but we need to keep moving forward. It wasn’t a great battle (with Cummins), he won easily and spoke to him now and he said you smack those in the nets, sometimes you just get a good one.

Winning skipper, Dinesh Karthik said

Wouldn’t call it a perfect game. Lot of areas we need to improve. The way Gill batted, Mavi bowled, Russell batted. Also the youngsters going after the high catches. Archer bowled really well. Wasn’t that easy a wicket to bat on. Couple of guys made it look better than it was. These boys, the journey they’ve been through when they’re not playing, is a hard one. Putting runs on the board is what we thought was the best way to go forward on this ground.

Man of the match, Shivam Mavi said

When I started bowling, it was seaming. So I thought I’ll stick to normal lines and lengths. Before the game we thought it would be flatter. So I just stuck to a length. Have played against these big stars before, but I knew it wasn’t coming onto the bat.