Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Nitish Rana has been fined Rs 24 lakh by the IPL governing council for maintaining a slow over rate in their 6-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2023 on May 14 in Chepauk stadium on Sunday.
Kolkata team’s victory, however, came at a price as the skipper was penalised a 24 lakh rupee fine for a slow overrating against the four-time champions as they could not complete the stipulated time in the 1st innings.
“As it was his team’s second offense of the season under the IPL’s Code of Conduct relating to minimum over-rate offences, Mr.Rana has been fined Rs.24 lakh and each member of the Playing XI, including the impact substitute, is fined Rs.6 lakh or 25 percent of the match fee, whichever is lesser,” read an IPL media advisory.
Coming into the game, Kolkata Knight Riders spinners bowled exceptionally well to restrict the mighty Chennai Super Kings batting for 144-6 at the end of the 20 overs with the star mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine picking important wickets in the spin-friendly Chepauk wicket.
With 145 runs to chase in the 2nd innings, Kolkata Knight Riders had a disastrous start in the powerplay in the 2nd innings losing quick three wickets. With the team struggling in the chase, KKR Skipper Nitish Rana formed a match-winning partnership of 99 runs alongside Rinku Singh to help their side register a sixth victory in the league stage.
Kolkata Knight Riders still have one match left to play in the tournament and they will look to win the match to give their side the best chance to qualify for the playoffs in this edition of the Indian Premier League.
Earlier, Rana was fined for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct after the star batter and Mumbai Indians (MI) star Hrithik Shokeen were involved in a heated argument during their clash against the five-time champions.
Credit To Our Spinners For How Well They Bowled – Nitish Rana
Nitish Rana revealed that the ball did not turn in the second innings as in the 1st innings and praised their spinners for bowling exceptionally well against the CSK batters and said that the plan was to take the game deep to chase down the total in the end overs.
“Chandu sir [Chandrakant Pandit, KKR coach] asked for a heavy roller, which I did not want. I felt the heavy roller might break the pitch, but it settled the pitch completely. The ball did not turn in the second innings. Credit to our spinners for how well they bowled. I always felt that if I or Rinku could hold one end up, we will chase this down. That is what happened,” Nitish Rana said.
Nitish Rana-led Kolkata Knight Riders will take on Lucknow Super Giants in their next encounter in the iconic Eden Gardens and will look to win the match and hopes for the results to go in their favour to qualify for the playoffs of IPL 2023.