IPL 2017: You Can't Be Playing Cricket At 2 A.M., Says Nathan Coulter-Nile

There were a lot of talking points about Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) 7-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Thursday in a rain-curtailed match but nothing more than the revised order of play after the heavy downpour at the end of the first innings. The cut-off time for the match to start for a Super Over was 1.20 a.m. and there is hardly anything as bizarre as to play a match that late into the night. But with no reserve day in place for the eliminator, it was always on the cards. After all the drama, the match did start at 12:55 a.m. and it was reduced to a 6-over slugfest, where KKR had to chase down a revised target of 48.

Talking about the revised order of play, KKR pacer Nathan Coulter-Nile said there was need to have a fresh look at the IPL rules after a 1.30 a.m finish to their rain-hit IPL eliminator against Hyderabad in Bangalore.

"Well, no one really got nervous until when they went out there for the last look at about 12:40 a.m. It sort of looked like I didn't wanna play. I think there is so much time, rules probably need to be looked at, I mean its 2 a.m., you can't be playing cricket at 2 o'clock. But I wasn't nervous at all. There was so much time, we had to get on," he said after the match.

Coulter-Nile returned with a three-wicket haul, which included a brilliant 19th over where he bagged the wickets of SRH's Vijay Shankar and Chris Jordan and conceded just three runs.

The Australian fast bowler credited fellow KKR pacers Umesh Yadav and Trent Boult for giving him pointers which helped his bowling.

"I think I bowled the seventh or eighth over and they said 'Look, cross-seamers into the wicket, throw them hard' and you really rely on your teammates to give you some pointers on what to do...," he said.

Coulter-Nile said the wicket of SRH skipper David Warner by Piyush Chawla was the turning point of the match as the Australian is the most devastating batsman in the world.

"Piyush removed Warner that I thought was the turning point. He is that kind of a bloke who can turn a 130 into a 150 or 160. That started with the first over," he said.

KKR had to wait endlessly for the rain to stop to know the fate of the match.

Talking about the anxious moments, he said: "When it was raining, we were quietly confident because 12.50 am was the cut off time. It kept raining and raining. The covers kept coming on and off. So, we were getting twitchy.

"KKR will now play MI on Friday at the same venue and will be praying that the rain gods will stay away," he said.

(With PTI Inputs)