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Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) spinner Varun Chakravarthy emerged as the match-winner for his side after bowling some crucial overs in their slender five-run win over the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Thursday, May 4.
The win keeps KKR alive in the playoffs race, but they had to work hard for it. SRH were cruising at one stage during their run chase of 172 runs. With well-settled batters and wickets in hand, the home side were only 38 runs away from winning at the 15-over mark.
KKR brought down the equation to nine required off the last six balls and Chakravarthy was entrusted to bowl the final over. The mystery spinner took the crucial wicket of Abdul Samad and kept Bhuvneshwar Kumar off bay to seal the victory.
Speaking during the post-match presentation after being adjudged as player of the match, Chakravarthy said:
"My heart-beat was almost touching 200. Definitely, the ball was slipping a lot. My best bet was the longer side."
The spinner is KKR's leading wicket-taker for the season with 14 scalps in 10 matches to be ranked eighth on the Purple Cap list.
"I realized that once my revolutions go down, my pace also goes down" - Varun Chakravarthy
Chakravarthy's memorable 2021 campaign helped him attain a place in Team India's T20 World Cup squad. However, he faded off since then and did not have a good IPL season in 2022, claiming only six wickets in 11 matches at an economy of 8.51.
Stating that he has worked on his ball revolutions since that poor campaign, Chakravarthy said:
"Last year, I was bowling around 85 kph. So I went back and was trying out many things and I realised that once my revolutions go down, my speed goes down. So I worked on my revs and that really helps."
KKR will play three out of their last four matches at Eden Gardens and are next slated to play against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Monday, May 8.
Will KKR qualify for the IPL 2023 playoffs? Let us know what you think.
