IPL 2017: KKR To Continue Experimenting With Opening Combination, Hints Nathan Coulter-Nile
Apr 18, 2017 at 1:20 PM
Kolkata Knight Riders fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile has defended his team’s strategy to go in with another new combination of openers against Delhi Daredevils on Monday (April 17).
The two-time Indian Premier League champions sprung a big surprise right at the start of the tournament when they ditched the established opening combinations Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa to let Chris Lynn partner the skipper at the top. The move paid off well as the Australia batsman scored an unbeaten 93 to set up the massive 10-wicket win in their tournament opener against Gujarat Lions. They did well in the next game too before Lynn was sidelined owing to a shoulder injury.
And if everyone was thinking that they would resort to their old opening combination, they were wrong as the Kolkata-based franchise threw another surprise by promoting off-spinner to partner Gambhir. That move also paid off well as the West Indian scored a 17-ball 37 to put his team on the way to an emphatic 8-wicket victory over Kings XI Punjab. However, Narine failed to do well in the next game against Sunrisers Hyderabad and it was enough for Kolkata to try out another combination against Delhi Daredevils.
They opened the innings with Gambhir and Colin de Grandhomme but the move backfired badly as the New Zealand all-rounder departed after scoring only 1. His dismissal triggered a panic as the visitors were reduced to 21 for 3 in the third over. But they were rescued by an 110-run stand between Yusuf Pathan and Manish Pandey before the latter guided the team to a hard-fought 4-wicket win.
Speaking at the post-match conference, Coulter-Nile not only defended the decision but also insisted that his team would continue to experiment until they find out someone who can give them blazing starts.
“You can’t keep doing the same thing all the time in T20 cricket,” Coulter-Nile said.“If you are not evolving or not trying to get better…I mean we are not winning every single IPL that’s come along, so to win we obviously need to do something different. So, that’s what the coaches feel works best that we’re off to a good start at the top. And it’s worked so far for us.”
“I think losing Chris Lynn early is what has hurt us really. He was going to set up games for us at the top. And we didn’t really have someone to back him up. We like the idea of someone going hard at the top of the order and getting us off to a flyer. So, I think till we find someone who does that for us, we’ll keep trying,” he added.
Both Yusuf and Pandey struck half-centuries to pull their team out of trouble and guided them to their fourth win of the season.
Speaking about the team’s batting strategy, the Australia quick said:
“We were hard-pressed after losing the top-three (batsmen) in the first six (overs) but I think the way we are set up, we try and go as hard as possible in the top six (overs), and really back our middle order to get us the runs… We always send maybe someone up the order to go hard, so losing one or two wickets doesn’t really bother us. Ideally, you don’t want to lose three in the top six (overs), that’s where you could potentially lose the game, but our middle order batted beautifully today.”