Skipper Shreyas Iyer hailed Kolkata Knight Riders’s comprehensive display against Lucknow Super Giants in the team’s crushing eight-wicket win at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday.
Phil Salt’s rapid 89 and three wickets for Mitchell Starc set up the easy win for Kolkata Knight Riders.
Starc’s 3-28 kept Lucknow down to 161-7 with the other Knight Riders’ bowlers putting in disciplined performances after their side elected to field first.
The Australian left-arm quick became the most expensive buy in IPL history after Kolkata shelled out $2.98 million for his services.
Opener Salt then steered the two-time IPL winners to their target in 15.4 overs for their fourth victory in five matches this season.
It was the English wicketkeeper-batsman’s second half-century in the current IPL edition after he scored 54 in his team’s opening win last month.
Salt held the chase together despite Kolkata losing two wickets including opener Sunil Narine for six.
He put on 120 runs with skipper Iyer, who made 38, smashing 14 fours and three sixes in his 47-ball knock.
“The way we played, it was a comprehensive victory. We bowled well under pressure and then finishing off the game, it was the icing on the cake,” said Iyer.
Players have been jostling to impress their national selectors ahead of the upcoming T20 World Cup starting June 1 in the West Indies and the United States.
Starc started slowly, leaking 10 runs in his first over, but came back strongly and sent back Deepak Hooda in his third with the help of a diving catch at backward point from Ramandeep Singh.
Mystery spinner Narine choked the flow of runs and returned figures of 1-17 before Starc bowled the 20th over for just six runs and two wickets.
He got the dangerous Nicholas Pooran on the first ball, caught behind for 45, and finished with a yorker to bowl Arshad Khan.
“It was important to bowl as many slower balls as possible. With the heat coming in, the wicket was a little dry and we wanted to minimise the half-volleys and we wanted the batters to use their power and clear the ropes,” Iyer said.
“That is what we were focussing on and I feel we executed phenomenally well. When we got wickets in between, that gave us an advantage. The bowlers were ready whenever I passed on the ball to them. The character and attitude they showed, it was exceptional.”
Meanwhile, Lucknow skipper KL Rahul was confident of his team bouncing back from this defeat.
“A tough day. A proper hammering. Every team in the IPL goes through a game like that,” the wicketkeeper-batter said.
“Not going to sit too much and think about it. Will go back, work out where we went wrong and bounce back better.”
Brief scores
Kolkata Knight Riders beat Lucknow Super Giants by eight wickets.
Lucknow Super Giants: 161/7 (Nicholas Pooran 45, KL Rahul 39; Mitchell Starc 3-28)
Kolkata Knight Riders: 162/2 in 15.4 overs (Phil Salt 89 not out, Shreyas Iyer 38 not out, Mohsin Khan 2/29).