Kolkata Knight Riders batter Quinton de Kock says having former Chennai Super Kings players Ajinkya Rahane and Moeen Ali in their ranks gave them key insights into the Chepauk conditions, which prompted the decision to field an extra spinner, a move that proved crucial in their eight-wicket win in the IPL match in Chennai on Friday.
KKR spinners Sunil Narine (3/13), Varun Chakravarthy (2/22), and Moeen Ali (1/20) shared five wickets between them, while pacer Harshit Rana chipped in with 2/16 to dismantle CSK's batting and restrict the hosts to their lowest-ever total of 103/9 in Chennai.
"When we bowled it seemed a lot slower, gripped a bit and our bowlers really enjoy that. We have got guys like Jinx (Rahane) and Mo (Moeen) who have been here before and they kind of knew that, so that's why we played an extra spinner,” de Kock said after the match.
Asked about the nature of the pitch and if it changed in the second innings, de Kock said it only got better for batting as the game progressed.
"I do think (in) the second innings it got slightly better. It did come on a bit better, or at least that's what I felt; that's how it played, sort of slow and just got better and better during the innings went on."
De Kock lauded KKR for bringing together two mystery spinners in the shortest format and praised Narine for his all-round show.
Narine smacked an 18-ball 44, which included five sixes and three fours in their modest chase.
“It's always (about) mixing it up. I think it's hard to line up certain spin bowlers like that because you never know what you're going to get,” de Kock said.
"On top of that, having that amount of skill, the areas they bowl, Sunil prides himself on the areas that he bowls and so does Varun (Chakravarthy). They're always working on their games, always trying to get better.
"Sunil, when he bats, he brings the X factor. I think every bowler knows he's going to come hard. He practices really hard. He's always at practices. I don't think he's missed a practice, even optional practices. He really does work on it,” he added.
De Kock also praised Rana for bowling his heart out on what appeared to be a slow wicket.
“He is our big fast bowler and we try to bowl him as a wicket-taker. It depends on the scenarios you face. With the new ball, (we need him to) strike up very early.
"Today we thought, ‘okay, let's go with the spinner to start off and then he'll come in' and then that's his job is to come in and make sure always like break a wicket or when wicket is broken to come on and just try and keep getting wickets."
De Kock said KKR want Rana to operate with multiple plans.
“He doesn't have one set. We're not trying to give him one set plan,” he said.
“We want to give him as many chances he can to pick up wickets for the team. Even though we've got the two spinners, but as a main fast bowler, we're going to get to certain wickets or stadiums where we're going to need our big fast bowler to stand up and really do what he did tonight.”
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