Kuldeep Yadav’s revenge against his former franchise got sweeter as he got a four-wicket haul at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batters were no match for the chinaman bowler as he rushed through their batting lineup in the middle overs. However, Pant missed out on achieving a major feat due to his skipper Rishabh Pant’s miscalculation.
The miscalculation
Pant underbowled Kuldeep despite him getting four wickets in three overs with an outstanding economy rate of 4.67 runs per over. But Pant did not let him complete his spell. Instead, he gave Lalit Yadav the ball in the 17th over which went for 17 runs.
Kuldeep had a golden chance to taken his maiden fifer in Indian Premier League (IPL). Had he taken one more wicket and conceded less than 11 runs in his last over, he would have registered the bowling figures of the season.
Records missed
Also, he missed out on breaking Amit Mishra's 15-year-old record of best bowling figures for the Delhi-based franchise. Mishra took five wickets for 17 runs against Deccan Chargers in the inaugural season. He also took 4/11 against Punjab Kings in 2016 edition.
Record achieved
However, there was one record which Kuldeep was able to achieve. With eight scalps against his former franchise, Kuldeep holds the record for most wickets in a season against KKR. The previous record belonged to Karanveer Singh, who took seven wickets against KKR in 2014 season.
Kuldeep’s wickets
The 27-year-old made on-debut Baba Indrajith his first victim of the day in the eighth over. Indrajith danced down the wicket and tried to clear the long-on fielder but failed. Off the next ball, hard-hitting Sunil Narine was beaten by Kuldeep's googly which hit his front fat. Narine got out for a golden duck.
In the 14th over, KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer chased a short and wide delivery but could only manage a bottom-edge. Wicketkeeper Pant took a brilliant catch to send Shreyas back to the pavillion. It was a big wicket in context of the game as he was batting on 42 off 37 deliveries and looking to make use of the momentum.
His last wicket was a huge one too. Andre Russell danced down the track but missed the ball completely. Pant erred a little but was able to dislodge the bails easily. The hard-hitting Caribbean batter got out for a three-ball duck.
