NEWS
Follow UsRajasthan Royals defeated the Kolkata Knight Riders by two wickets in a thrilling chase yesterday at the Eden Gardens. The match was a roller coaster with many ups and downs, and the Royals’ chase wasn’t any different.
After quick-fire cameos but regular dismissals, RR were six down in the 13th over for just 121, needing 103 runs in less than eight overs to win the game. After the fall of the sixth wicket in the form of Shimron Hetmyer, in came the Windies skipper Rovman Powell. He scored 26 off 13 with the help of three sixes at a stage where Jos Buttler, the hero of the night, was finding it hard to time sixes.
Speaking at the press conference, Powell highlighted how innings like his hardly get the recognition in proportion to the amount of impact they had on the result of the game. He also pointed out how the technology needs to step up to correct this wrong.
“Yeah I think in T20 cricket a lot of persons don't get credit for playing impactful innings. You know, a lot of technologies are there that you know, give data as to innings that guys play but not a lot of data or technology is there to pick up the impact, you know, of what a 20 off 10 or 30 off 15, do for the morale of the team.”
It's noteworthy here that Powell had the third biggest impact for Rajasthan in the game after Buttler and Riyan Parag according to Cricket.com's Player Impact rating.
Powell bats in the middle order for the West Indian T20I side, and he also joked during the post-match presentation that he had to remind skipper Sanju Samson of this fact. Hence, it wasn’t a surprise at all when Powell took the attack to Sunil Narine, who’s known for his miserly bowling, and that impacted RR’s chase in more than one way.
“I think I started trying to hit Sunil as the main bowler and giving the guys that believe that if Sunil Narine can go for runs, then anybody can go for runs. I tried to fuel right through the group. And I was there with Jos and I told Jos, just relax. I will try to hit a few sixes because he was trying to hit the ball and he wasn't connecting. After I get out then you will take on the mantle of trying to score those big sixes.”
Powell was also quite appreciative of Narine’s batting, and considering the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean a few months from now, Powell accepted that there has been some “whispering” going on to convince him to join the Windies side. Under that context, Narine’s hundred was a source of pleasure for the Windies skipper.
“Yeah, it [Narine’s century] was very good. And it was a very good innings to watch. You know, I think Sunil has done an extremely good job this season for KKR at the top of the order and hopefully, it can continue you know. He's my fellow West Indian and as a West Indian it's always nice to see otherwise West Indians doing well in the IPL,” Powell said with a smile on his face.
Apart from Narine, Powell praised the process followed by the RR management and emphasised the clarity in communication, both during the post-match presentation and the press conference, highlighting the significance of it for Powell and his team.
“I think the communication from Samson and the coaching staff has been very good you know. That communication then fuels confidence within the group. When you're winning from difficult positions that also gives you confidence you know. It's just the never-die attitude that the guys have found, that has been very good for us,” Powell said.
“If you win, the morale in the team is very good and if you're losing then guys become a little bit lack of confidence and stuff you know so once you keep on winning, you tend to feel as if you're going to win from any position.”
Powell also defended his franchise for experimenting with the batting order, which led to him batting lower down the order but still creating a big enough impact.
“I think it has been something that has served the franchise well over the past seasons. Every time they promote Ashwin, he tends to play that kind of an innings where he stops the flow of wickets and also gives you a 30 off 20 or 15 balls. Sometimes that is very very important. You know that gives you enough batters going into the last five the last six overs, and that’s where you can be aggressive.”
Powell was full of adulation for Buttler, and he called his century against KKR among the top five he has ever seen.
“I think it was a very good and well-calculated innings you know. It's important for somebody to bat to the final ball and for one of the openers to bat all 20 overs is very very good. It was a world-class innings and he picked his bowlers and picked his time when he’s ready to score about when he's ready to score you know. After batting 14, 15, 16, 17 overs on that wicket, he knew that he had to be the man to carry on the game for us,” Powell acknowledged.
“I've seen a lot of world-class T20 innings and hundreds and this is definitely in the top five. I have seen the universe boss Chris Gill score some really fantastic hundreds you know, for Jamaica Tallawahs and all over the world. And I think this is one of the better games you know to be on the winning side in a chase of 220 at a ram-packed Eden guards leaves a special feeling in your mouth.”
