IPL: Riyan Parag turns a tragic hero as Kolkata Knight Riders stay afloat

Riyan Parag is someone who has always polarised opinions among the IPL followers. While most fans had failed to see the rationale behind the Rajasthan Royals investing so heavily on the former Under-19 India star from Assam for years, others felt he had the makings of an explosive allrounder in the T20Is.

 However, the breathtaking 95 off 44 balls at the Eden Gardens – which saw the Royals almost turn the day match on it’s head till they fell short by one run – will force a lot of critics to change their opinion about him. A last-ball win has certainly helped defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders keep themselves afloat with two wins in a row, but only just.

 Thrust with the captaincy as regular incumbent Sanju Samson had been in and out of the squad with a finger injury, Riyan had looked hesitant in his decisionmaking right through and failed to finish close matches in the middle order throughout the tournament. However, his 92-run partnership with Shimron Hetmyer, off only 48 balls, threatened to swing the match in the favour of the no hopers till Harshit Rana struck telling blows by removing both of them.

A steep target of 207, on a wicket with a degree of grip, looked a bridge too far for the current Royals batting line-up. The 35,000-strong crowd which turned up wanted their team to win but were possibly praying that young Vaibhav Suryavanshi fires too to give them their money’s worth.

However, the teenager fell cheaply for the second innings in a row, owing to a poor shot selection in trying to pull a short delivery from Vaibhav Arora on the off stump as Ajinkya Rahane pulled off a brilliant running catch.

Coming in at eight-for-two, Parag tried to keep his head down and Royals saw some hope after he and Yashasvi Jaiswal stitched together a 50-run partnership. However, a twin-strike from Varun Chakravarthy saw them slipping to 71 for five before Riyan and Shimron Hetmyer came together.

Picking up Moeen Ali for attack, Riyan tore into him as the England off spinner came round the wicket and was pitching it wide - which allowed the Royals captain room to hoist it repeatedly on both sides of the wicket. An unbelievable sequence of five sixes off the 13^th over of the innings and off the first ball he faced in the very next over from Varun, he reverse swept one of the best spinners in the league to make it six maximums in a row.  

Russell finds form

Earlier, Player of the Match Andre Russell had come good with a 57 off 25 balls, including six sixes.  Russell has certainly done much better than this during a storied career with the Knights which started way back in 2012. However, the ongoing season had been different as the 37-year-old Caribbean hunk seemed to be batting from memory - while the think tank’s reluctance to push him up the order hardly gave him enough balls to get into his groove.

As the Knights led an indifferent campaign, with their problems stemming from an inept batting performance and the meltdown of 95 all out seeing the nadir, calls to replace him with compatriot Rovman Powell grew louder. In a must-win 11^th game against an underachieving Royals, the Knights kept their faith once more – and Dre Russ made it count against an inexperienced attack after being slow off the blocks.

The fifth-wicket partnership of 61 between Russell and Angkrish Raghuvanshi, then powered by a cameo from Rinku Singh, set the tone for a much-needed win for the Knights. They now have a good chance to put it across a demoralised Chennai Super Kings – languishing at the bottom of the table – in their last home game on Wednesday before hitting the road again.

Their last two away league games are against Sunrisers Hyderabad and table toppers Royal Challengers Bangalore.