Mohit Sharma heaps special praise on leggie Rahul Tewatia

May 10, 2017 10:15 pm | Updated 10:16 pm IST - Mohali

Impact player:  Rahul Tewatia’s niggardly spell   contributed to KXIP’s crucial win on Tuesday.

Impact player: Rahul Tewatia’s niggardly spell contributed to KXIP’s crucial win on Tuesday.

Man-of-the-Match Mohit Sharma and Kolkata Knight Riders’ top-scorer Chris Lynn were unanimous in their analysis that the middle overs turned the tide of the match on Tuesday.

KKR was cruising at 61 for one at the end of the PowerPlay when Kings XI Punjab spinners came to the rescue and stemmed the flow of runs. Leg-spinner Rahul Tewatia came in for special praise from Mohit.

“I think the spinners, especially Rahul Tewatia, were the turning point. It was his first match of this season. His four overs were the turning point and gave away just 18 runs,” said Mohit. “Sandy (Sandeep Sharma) also bowled well but in the end I think it was Tewatia’s four overs that made the difference.”

Lynn who raced to 41 in the PowerPlay from 19 balls, needed another 33 balls for his next 43 runs and agreed the dots balls in the middle-overs cost the team.

“The dot balls between the sixth and the 11th over dented our run-rate. If we had rotated the strike a bit more, we would have found ourselves in a lot more comfortable position rather than trying to whack down towards the end.

“To their credit, the Kings XI boys bowled really well in the death overs. That’s what you can ask for and credit has to go to them.”

When asked what the talk was, after the initial fireworks from Lynn and Narine, Mohit said: “It wasn’t that we bowled bad, it was just they played well. They started hitting from the first ball. Sandy bowled well so did Matt Henry but some of the balls went for fours. Our focus was stick to our plans.”

Mohit added: “He (Lynn) is a big player and he bats in T20 as if it is baseball. He always punishes a loose ball. The moment he got out the match turned in our favour as a new batsman cannot come in and hit shots right from the start.”

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