At a time when teams are amassing big totals with consummate ease in the IPL, Mumbai Indians have bowled out Kolkata Knight Riders for 116 in their latest face-off, an effort that has left New Zealand star Kane Williamson highly impressed. MI won the game by eight wickets on Monday to open their account in the ongoing edition of the league after starting it with two successive reverses. "It was a complete performance. Winning the toss, bowling first, and executing their plans beautifully. Bringing in an extra seamer, Ashwani, who was outstanding. They took wickets consistently, and I think that was the most pleasing aspect," said Williamson on JioHotstar.
"It's not often nowadays, with the impact player rule, that you see a team preventing any substantial partnerships. But they applied pressure throughout and were dominant in every phase of the match," the Kiwi great added.
Ashwani Kumar's record four-wicket haul on IPL debut and Ryan Rickelton's 62 not out powered Mumbai Indians to a commanding win over defending champions KKR at the Wankhede Stadium.
The 23-year-old Ashwani from Punjab's Jhanjeri became the first Indian ever to take four wickets on IPL debut as he ended with figures of 3-0-24-4 to blow away KKR's star-studded batting lineup.
Former India spinner Piyush Chawla said KKR failed to come up with the right strategy while batting keeping in mind the conditions and match situations.
"Sometimes, you have to respect the conditions. It wasn't a typical batting surface, especially with the new ball. You need to play cautiously at the start because once the ball gets older and softer, that's when you can go for your shots. But here, that didn't happen.
"We all know Trent Boult can swing the ball outside, and it was clear that he had a plan for Sunil Narine, which worked perfectly. Venkatesh Iyer also struggled, repeatedly attempting fancy shots. As I mentioned earlier, the pressure of his heavy price tag is always there," Chawla said.
He added, "Then, the way Rinku got out -- he has a good head on his shoulders, but that shot was unnecessary. There were still 8-10 overs left, and the team needed stability. Even with an impact player and batting depth till number nine, they couldn't play the full 20 overs. That tells the whole story." Chawla praised MI skipper Hardik Pandya's captaincy in the game.
"I think the best part of his captaincy was his attacking approach. He read the conditions well and understood that there was something in the pitch for the seamers, so he used them effectively. One move I particularly liked was when Vignesh came in to bowl while Harshit Rana was batting towards the end.
"You want to get that wicket rather than letting the opposition add another 10-15 runs with Ramandeep Singh still there. Overall, his decision-making was spot on.
"When a partnership was building between Manish Pandey and Rinku Singh, he brought Ashwani Kumar into the attack, and that over changed the game. The team executed their plans perfectly today," Chawla said.
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