Mike Hesson, the head coach of Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), claimed that Andre Russell’s reprieve became the turning point of the match on last Wednesday (27th March) night.
KXIP met the host side Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on last night. KXIP skipper Ravichandran Ashwin decided to field first after winning the toss. In the 17th over of KKR’s innings, Mohammed Shami delivered a brilliant yorker to Andre Russell who missed that ball, and the ball hit the stumps.
While Andre Russell was returning to the dressing room after scoring just three runs off five balls, the on-field umpires called a no-ball on that delivery as only three fielders were standing inside the 30-yard circle (as per regulation, at least four fielders need to stand inside the circle).
After that lucky escape, Andre Russell scored 48 runs off just 17 balls as KKR managed to score 218/4 in 20 overs. Though Robin Uthappa (67*) and Nitish Rana (63) also played some great innings, Mike Hesson chose Andre Russell’s innings as the game changer.
The KXIP head coach said after that match, “The game changed in the 17th over. Obviously we had a plan for Russell that we executed well, but we weren’t quite alert enough in the field, and that’s where the game changed.”
Andre Russell is a game-changer
KKR scored 55 runs in the last three overs of that innings, thanks to Andre Russell’s powerful batting. In the 18th and 19th over of that innings, KXIP bowlers conceded 22 and 25 runs respectively. Mike Hesson pointed out those overs and said that those overs turned the game very quickly.
He added, “It’s a fine line when you’re bowling to Andre Russell. He’s a game-changer. We had that little bit of jubilation and then things turned pretty quickly (with the no-ball) and we weren’t quite able to turn the last few overs for 12 or 14 runs. Instead we ended up giving away 22 or 24 runs, and it probably changed the game.”
In reply, KXIP only managed to score 190/4 (20 overs) as they were 28 runs short from KKR’s total.
Ravichandran Ashwin’s “Mankading” didn’t affect their game
Earlier, KXIP won their first match of the season when they beat the home side Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 14 runs. However, the KXIP captain Ravichandran Ashwin faced worldwide criticism for his “Mankading” incident to dismiss the set batsman Jos Buttler in that game.
But Mike Hesson claimed that those criticisms didn’t affect their game.
He said, “We were very focused quickly afterwards, in terms of preparing for KKR. So that’s very much been our focus.”
Mike Hesson on Varun Chakravarthy
In the latest IPL Players’ Auction, KXIP bought Varun Chakravarthy for the season’s record price of INR 8.4 crore. He made his IPL debut last night and conceded 25 runs in his first over. KKR opener Sunil Narine scored 24 runs in that over.
However, the leg-spinner had the better bowling figures in that match which were 3-0-35-1. Mike Hesson praised his impressive comeback in that game.
He said, “I thought the way he came back in the second and third over was excellent. And it will give him and us a lot of confidence. You know, playing your first game in front of a crowd like this is difficult. And Narine’s obviously going to hit you from ball one. I think he will learn to settle down a bit quicker. But I’m still very pleased with the way he came back.”
Mike Hesson spoke about the changes in playing XI
Last night, KXIP made a total of four changes from their winning squad against RR. Sam Curran, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Ankit Rajpoot were dropped from the playing XI along with the injured Nicholas Pooran. Meanwhile, David Miller, Andrew Tye, Hardus Viljoen and Varun Chakravarthy replaced those players.
Mike Hesson said about those changes, “Nicholas Pooran was injured so that’s a straight swap, since David Miller’s a big player for us. Then we felt on that surface, someone who can bowl back-of-a-length like Hardus Viljoen instead of Sam Curran was the way to go. And Hardus bowled really nicely, so those were two big changes.
“And with Andrew Tye coming back in, being a key player, we had to make a decision on overseas players. That’s why Varun Chakravarthy came in instead of Mujeeb.”
KXIP will play their next game this Saturday (30th March) when they will meet Mumbai Indians (MI). It will be their first home game in this season as Mohali will host that match.
In IPL 2019, KXIP has played two matches where they have won once and suffered one defeat.