Bollywood superstar and co-owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) franchise, Shah Rukh Khan expressed his disappointment after the team’s 10-run loss against Mumbai Indians (MI) on Tuesday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. Khan took to Twitter and apologised to KKR fans for the “disappointing performance” of the Eoin Morgan-led KKR side.
KKR were cruising to victory in the 15th over with seven wickets in hand chasing a modest total of 153. Opener Nitish Rana lost his wicket to Rahul Chahar on the final ball of the leg-spinner’s spell. Rana scored 57 runs from 47 deliveries before becoming Chahar’s fourth victim of the match.
With Rana back in the pavillion, KKR needed just over run-a-ball but Shakib Al Hasan lost his wicket in the 16th over trying to slog-sweep Krunal Pandya. KKR needed 31 runs from 28 balls with experienced campaigners and big-hitters Andre Russell and Dinesh Karthik in the middle.
However, Russell and Karthik struggled to get the boundary. An out-of-form Russell even struggled to get bat on ball before he struck a free hit delivery for a boundary from Jasprit Bumrah. With Bumrah giving just four runs in the penultimate over, KKR needed 15 runs off the final over.
Kiwi fast bowler Trent Boult was spot on with his executions and got the wicket of Russell and Pat Cummins with consecutive deliveries to help MI win the match by 10 runs. Boult gave just four runs in the final over. Earlier, skipper Morgan got out playing a reckless shot off leg-spinner Chahar.
KKR off-spinner Harbhajan Singh also reacted to the team’s loss. He walked in to bat when KKR needed 13 runs to win from two deliveries.
With the loss in Chennai, KKR are currently placed fifth on the points table. They won their first match against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 10 runs.
