Manish Pandey feels that KKR need to improve their death bowling to win games

Kolkata Knight Riders middle order batsman, famously remembered for being the first Indian to score a century in the IPL, Manish Pandey was the star of Kolkata’s innings against the Mumbai Indians at Mumbai’s iconic Wankhede Stadium. Coming in to bat when the KKR batting line-up was reeling, Pandey took up the responsibility and hit a brilliant 47 ball 81 under pressure.

With his contribution, KKR were able to pose a decent score of 178/7. However, it was the SRK co-owned franchises’ death overs department, that disappointed and lose the team a game it had nearly won.

Speaking to Press Trust of India, Pandey said KKR need to improve in this particular aspect of the game, recollecting that the similar mistakes were made in the opener against Gujarat Lions.

“Even in the first game (against Gujarat Lions), we struggled with death bowling. I thought we can improve a little more. Two games in a row, and it is high time we start thinking and applying our mind about this in the meeting,” Pandey said in his post-match conference at the Wankhede Stadium.

The battle between the two times IPL champions each – MI and KKR – was a thriller. The hosts required 64 from 30 balls, which looked tricky. But with a gritty display of batting by Nitish Rana and Hardik Pandya, Mumbai pulled off a victory with the last ball of the innings to spare. The game turned in favor of Mumbai after the 17^th overs, and KKR’s death bowlers were seen toiling hard.

“If bowlers hit yorkers consistently, it would be obviously difficult for the batsmen. They missed a few, we missed a few. They played very well in the end and we have to work a bit more on death bowling. We shall overcome this,” Pandey said.

Hardik Pandya rose to fame with his heroics against Bangladesh last year in March, when India pulled off a last-ball win against the Tigers. Pandey, speaking of Pandya, said that the 22-year-old has grown in confidence.

“He is a very good player and coming up to be a very good all-rounder. We have seen how he has batted and finished games for India at number 7. Slowly he has matured as a player.”

One of the factors that contributed to KKR’s loss was the dew, and Pandey too highlighted the same, saying that the dew enabled the ball to come on to the bat well, thus there was an advantage for the Mumbai batsmen.

When asked about the extent of Australian Chris Lynn’s injury, who batted sensationally well against the Gujarat Lions, Pandey said,

“He (Lynn) has put icing on the shoulder and it is too early to say anything.