Heath Streak confident that Kolkata Knight Riders have a good chance in home ground
Heath Streak believes that Kolkata Knight Riders have an advantage over Sunrisers Hyderabad in terms of player strategy and home support. He has added that the team has been consistent throughout the innings and the perfect balance between youth and experienced players is a plus for them.
Former Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak is delighted over the way things have panned out for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 2018. Having a streak of four victories, the two-time champions have a good chance to make it to the final, which will be decided in the Qualifier 2 against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Friday (May 25).
Table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad only
“You don’t play cricket on paper,” the Kolkata bowling coach said on Thursday evening. “They are a very strong side with good players – they wouldn’t have finished at the top of the table if they weren’t. But we’re coming good at the right time. The balance, form — those are all important factors in cricket. At the end of the day, you can only play one ball at a time, whether you’re facing it or bowling. We’re really trying to focus on not the names we are playing against. We know they’re a good side and we know they’re probably
“I’ve been really pleased, especially with our bowlers, how they’ve put it together,” he insisted. “If we are honest with ourselves, we were probably a little bit disjointed and under-par in the bowling department early on. The batting came to our rescue. So very good to go in with that confidence of having four wins,” he said.
“Prasidh (Krishna, the tall paceman) has been outstanding. He’s brought in a new dimension, not just with his pace but his height. For me, the most pleasing thing to see is how much of a thinking cricketer he is. He’s really been smart, he’s using his options and variations well, he’s using the double-bluffs and not allowing the batsman to look at the field and know what ball’s coming next. But of course, even with all of that, you still have to execute your skill, which he’s done and I think his confidence is growing and he’s been fantastic. Yesterday (in the Eliminator against Rajasthan Royals), the 18th over was world-class. It reminded me of guys like Jasprit Bumrah, who came on the scene doing exactly what he (Prasidh) has. He’s really making a name
“It is well documented that the teams for whom the domestic Indian players perform well are generally also the ones that perform consistently. The franchise took a position to invest in some young guys. For me, the rewarding this is that guys like Shubman (Gill) and Mavi are probably playing beyond their years in terms of
Streak made note of Hyderabad captain Kane Williamson’s dominance with the bat as he is the leading run-getter in the IPL so far. Kane poses a challenge to the spin trio of Sunil Narine, Kuldeep Yadav, and Piyush Chawla from the Kolkata side, which may well decide the outcome of the game today.
“Kane’s played well at the moment. Sometimes people forget to just bowl good balls at him. He’s one of those players who
Andre Russell has been consistent in making a name for himself and Kolkata as the Jamaican superstar has smashed 313 runs at a strike-rate of 190.85. The giant of a man has also built up a serious pace in his bowling, having taken 13 wickets at an economy of 9.39.
“We’ve seen Andre, he has come out and changed the game for us a few times,
“Andre is like that. There might be days where he might be a little bit expensive but he is also a match-winner, with the bat and with the ball, and that is priceless. To have someone who in their own right could make the side in one department but he is a match-winner with the bat and with the ball, so we are very fortunate, it gives us balance. It gives us the opportunity to be able to have an extra bowler, one extra
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