Kolkata Knight Riders co-owner Shah Rukh Khan apologised to the fans after his side shocking defeat against defending champions Mumbai Indians in the ongoing IPL 2021 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Mumbai bounced back brilliantly as Kolkata Knight failed to chase down 31 runs off 30 deliveries falling short by 10 runs.
Despite being handed a comfortable start by Nitish Rana and Shubman Gill while chasing a mediocre target of 153 runs, KKR fumbled dramatically and lost out the contest by 10 runs. After what was an opening partnership of 72 runs between Gill and Rana, no Kolkata Knight Riders batsman managed to reach the double-digit figure on a Chennai surface which assisted spin. Rohit Sharma used his bowlers to perfection to snatch a win from the jaws of defeat.
Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya broke Kolkata’s backbone after a terrific start by Nitish Rana and Shubman Gill. Krunal’s figure of 4-0-13-1 was exceptional while Chahar picked the important wickets of Rana, Gill, Rahul Tripathi, and Eoin Morgan to bring Mumbai Indians back in the game. Rohit Sharma went with the experience of Trent Boult and the left-armer didn’t disappoint picking two wickets in the death while Jasprit Bumrah was as usual brilliant in the end overs.
Disappointed with the performance – Shah Rukh Khan
As the fans took to microblogging site Twitter to vent their frustration, Shah Rukh Khan also called the defeat disappointing as he offered his apologies to fans.
“Disappointing performance. to say the least @KKRiders apologies to all the fans!”, Shah Rukh Khan tweeted.
Disappointing performance. to say the least @KKRiders apologies to all the fans!
— Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) April 13, 2021
Speaking at the end of the game, Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Eoin Morgan also echoed the voice of Shah Rukh Khan. Terming the loss as disappointing, Morgan said that they lost the plot in the last 10 overs the match after dominating the game.
“Yes, disappointing (to lose). Played some really good cricket for most parts of the game, we looked comfortable in the chase, but they are a strong team, came back well and sad that it didn’t work out for us. Made a few mistakes, will need to sort it out. A perfect game needs to be bold, it came to cost us in the last 10 overs of the game (not being bold enough to finish off the chase),” he said.