Hyderabad: All Kolkata Knight Riders required was a win against Mumbai Indians to qualify for the playoffs. After thirteen gruelling matches, the KKK's fate in the tournament came down to their final league match on Sunday (May 5). A victory against MI would have helped them to knock out Sunrisers Hyderabad and in the process, they would have qualified for the playoffs. But things didn't go their way.
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A massive nine-wicket defeat against table topper MI ruined their hope as SRH advanced to the playoffs for the fourth consecutive times. This was also the first time in IPL history a team has qualified for the playoffs with 12 points in 14 matches. The cut-off mark of IPL playoff qualification is 16 but owing to poor show of other teams SRH have been benefited, thanks to their better net-run-rate.
But when it came to proving their credentials under pressure situations, KKR caved in meekly.
First of all, toss didn't go KKR's way and then they failed to capitalize on a good start given by Chris Lynn who scored 41 off 29 balls. Their most dependable player of the season Andre Rusell got out for a duck and captain Dinesh Karthik managed to score only three.
Their woes amplified owing to Robin Uthappa's notorious 40 runs innings. Yes, he scored 30 per cent of KKR's team total 133 for 7 but the fact is that he consumed 47 balls. No doubt, it was a below-par innings in T20 cricket, a format which is better known for gutsy innings.
After Lynn's stormy innings was cut short by Hardik Pandya, Nitish Rana tried to improve KKR's scoreboard but he fell soon.
Now the question is what was Kolkata's final dot ball count?
Out of 120 deliveries KKR failed to score a single run in 10 overs, and they bagged this unwanted record in a must-win game.
Uthappa's 71-minute innings was a display of his epic struggle. This was only the second time in IPL history a batsman consumed more dot balls than the runs he scored. In 2011 IPL, KXIP's Paul Valthaty scored 29 off 50 balls against Delhi Daredevils.
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Coming to bat in the seventh over, Uthappa gifted MI a maiden in the 11th over. He visibly struggled to middle the ball. His extremely slow innings was finally brought to end by Jasprit Bumrah, sending him back off the fifth ball of final over of KKR's innings.
Forgettable innings for Uthappa, unforgettable for fans
It has been a rather forgettable season for Uthappa. He was dropped twice in the season after KKR's home loss to RCB. During KKR's chase in that match, he scored just 9 off 20 balls. Kolkata finished the match on 203 as they ran out of deliveries during their unsuccessful chase.
The 33-years-old, who was a key member of India's 2007 World T20 winning squad, enjoyed an outstanding season in IPL 2014 when Gautam Gambhir led KKR lifted the IPL trophy for the second time. Uthappa amassed 660 runs in 16 matches at an average of 44 which earned him the prestigious Orange Cap.
Now it seems the time is for up for the Karnataka batsman as his struggle continues in the cash-rich T20 league.
