NEW DELHI: Succumbing to their first defeat of the season after a hat-trick of wins, Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Shreyas Iyer admitted that his side failed to assess the conditions properly at the Chepauk.
Chennai Super Kings brushed aside KKR by seven wickets in a lop-sided encounter to return to winning ways after a couple of defeats.
As CSK bowlers used the home advantage to perfection, KKR batters looked clueless despite scoring 56 for no loss in the power play.
After a solid power play, KKR then scored 43 for 4 in overs 7 to 15 and then 38 for 4 in the last 5 overs as CSK bowlers fired in unison, restricting the visitors.
Shreyas was quick to admit that his side failed to read the slowness of the track and batting became difficult after the power play was done.
“We fell short in terms of assessing the wicket. Phenomenal start in the power play but we couldn’t capitalize. Couldn’t assess conditions, pitch completely changed after power play and to score runs, it wasn’t easy,” Shreyas said in the post-match presentation.
“They (CSK) know conditions pretty well, bowled according to their plan. It was tacky, wasn’t easy to go big right from first ball. It changed tremendously after power play and the way we were trying to construct our innings, didn’t go to plan. We take those learnings and move forward.
“We were in a comfortable place, thought 160-170 was a great score. That was our plan but when you lose consecutive wickets it’s difficult to carry forward momentum. Have to go back to our drawing board and learn, just a matter of one match and one innings, glad it happened at the start of the tournament,” Shreyas added.
Despite the defeat, KKR maintain their second spot on the points table with three wins and a defeat.
Rajasthan Royals are at the top with four wins in four games while Lucknow Super Giants and CSK are at the third and fourth spot respectively.