The bowlers from KKR AND MI- battle among the ALMOST equals

The first IPL match was played on Eden Gardens on a pitch completely alien and uncharacteristic of a Eden garden pitch. Yes, it had a bit of grass on it. Yes, Morne Morkel got a good length ball to pitch and take off more than even he expected.

The only thing that was characteristic about the stadium was the outfield where the ball traveled faster than you could say ‘boundary’.

KKR won the match because of, I would say of committing lesser mistakes and gradually easing out their nerves faster than MI.

What I found interesting in the match was the subtle competition between the bowlers from both the sides.

So here is an analysis of that competition between those who performed and those who didn't.

Lasith malinga vs Morne Morkel

                                                

Too much for malinga this time?

For years now Malinga has faced a situation something like this from the Mumbai Indians.

We have a new ball, give it to Malinga

We need a wicket now, give it to Malinga

We need to stop opposition scoring runs, give it to Malinga

It’s the death overs, give it to Malinga

It's time for our bowling, give it to Malinga

Pity he has only 24 balls. (for Mumbai that is)

An ankle surgery made him doubtful even for the world cup which he eventually played. He clearly looked out of practice in the world cup and down on speed but he was gaining rhythm every match.

Against KKR he was steady, if anything else.  He wasn’t penetrative, yet.

Today he couldn’t fulfill all the expectations that were on his shoulders. His four overs went for 27 runs even after being hit for 14 in his last over being hit by  suryakumar yadav.

                                                                

The gentle giant?

In complete contrast Morkel is in the form of his life. After a personally successful world cup where he emerged as the highest wicket taker for South Africa with 17 wickets. His spell in the quarter-final was spectacular.

It was very sad to see the gentle giant to break down, completely in that match. Later you saw that roar after getting Rayudu out with a peach of a delivery.  The gentle giant wasn’t so gentle anymore. I mean, at one stage he looked like he needed a hug from his bodyguard(during the quarter final) but later he looked like he could punch him.

He, I think was the difference in the match bowling so well that gambhir bowled him out. Finch was beaten by pace, Rayudu by the bounce and the intimidation. He bowled 15 dot balls.

He made a difference, Malinga didn’t.

Sunil Narine vs Harbhajan Singh

                                   

poker face

Sunil Narine in the words of Gambhir

   “We don’t have a back up for Sunil because there can be no back up for him”

The BCCI being their obstinate self weren’t satisfied with clearance given to him to bowl by the university of  loughborough.        .

Sunil Narine. The best poker face one would ever see in the game. He gives his cap to the umpire.

Inhale.

Gets to his run-up.

Exhale and inhale again.

Runs up and delivers … a full toss which rohit sharma caressed to the boundary.  Anticlimax. Puts on his best poker face. Goes back to his run-up.

The main difference in Narine’s bowling was that his pace was definitely slower. Narines great strength was to spin the ball sharply at a good pace. There is so many revolutions in his delivery that if the ball hits the bat anywhere apart from the middle, no on can say where it will land up.

As he bowled, he got better. That carom ball was released better. After the first over, the nerves had calmed down. Added to the fact that Morkel had just finished a great spell. It was the best time to ball at least for one who is coming back with a remodelled action.

It is too early to deduce if the result his remodeled action will achieve the same previous success.

But he is getting his rhythm back.

                                                

                                                 

Not in his elements anymore?

Harbhajan singh isn’t getting those wickets anymore. He is bowling flatter.  Gambhir was especially severe on him, punishing him on every error. You could say he was hurt by a dropped catch.  He did get a wicket, that of Aditya Tare but you could see that he wasn’t attacking enough and bowled too many loose deliveries.

Narine was steady- 4 overs for 28

Harbhajan was less so -3 overs for 28

Vinay Kumar vs Umesh Yadav

                                              

Vinay kumar was the leading wicket taker in the Ranji trophy. As a captain of Karnataka he has risen the team to an enviable positon. That Indian spot, however still eludes him.

Bowling to his former team, Kumar did have something to prove. He almost did enticing that poke from Gambhir which Aditya tare dropped.

Mumbai had scores an under-par total even after bashing 88 of the last six. They however had the momentum. That catch was what they needed to get into the game and carry that momentum. It didn’t happen.

Rohit sharma made a tactical mistake giving inexperienced Bumrah the 17^th over instead of giving it to Vinay kumar. He couldn’t make a big impact on the game after that.

Still his 3.3 overs went for a respectable 21 runs.

Umesh yadav is the leading wicket taker for India in the world-cup. His pace hurried batsmen and he was slippery in his first two.

That was until Rohit Sharma came into one of his hitting frenzy taking 21 of the 15^th over.

He finished with 36 of his 3 overs.

 Neither bowler could make much of a difference.

Pragyan Ojha vs Shakibh-al-Hasan

Amidst the wide anticipation of Narine it is easy to forget or to even to know that Ojha too was called for a suspect action and was only recently cleared. His second ball was hit for a six by Gambhir. He didn’t trouble the batsmen much. In fact, he two overs went for 23 runs going for two sixes.

Shakib-al-Hasan is one of the leading all-rounders of the world. It is telling that he is the only Bangladeshi to play IPL. In a sense he is Bangladesh’s first superstar.

He bowled better than his figures suggest enticing Tare into a false stroke. It was interesting to see that he was preferred to Narine in the death. He was undone by two dropped catches, one a sitter, another a relatively tough one.

His last over cost 20 ruining his figures which read 4 overs for 48 runs claiming a scalp. They may have to rethink Shakib as a death bowler.

Corey Anderson did get some swing upfront getting Uthappa and cut Manish Pandey in half. However he went for 21 in his two.

Piyush chawla got in only two overs only going for 16 runs. 

Russell was steady and slippery. He went for 21 in his three.

These three bowlers did not make too much of an impact. Anderson’s wicket was neutralized by 2 sixes Uthappa and Pandey struck.

In the end one must say that Morkel was the difference between the two sides and in the first 14 overs the KKR had stifled the rate of scoring. This made a difference in the end even after MI doubling their score.

The main turning point -

MI had 5 overs going for 10 and more in their innings

KKR had 9 overs going for 10 or more.