Pacers level up in KKR's benchmark bowling display

It's been a distinct last few weeks for Eoin Morgan. Besides searching for some form for himself and his team, he's also been looking for the perfect venue.

When Kolkata Knight Riders lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore, Morgan was playfully "glad to be leaving Chennai" because he couldn't get a measure of the pitches there. Come Mumbai, which Morgan thought "better suited" KKR's style of play, his team returned two losses in two games. So it was important that things clicked for him in Ahmedabad, where four games could decide just which end of the points table KKR end up at.

Morgan would be relieved that the first of those four games in Ahmedabad ended in a victory. And that it wasn't only his spinners, whom he has hailed as "one of the best in the tournament", doing all the hard work this time around.

Against Punjab Kings on Monday (April 26), KKR's pacers levelled up and it manifested in the performance of Shivam Mavi. The 22-year-old blazed the trail with four straight overs at the start, three of them bowled inside the powerplay for only nine runs. Not to forget the 11 dot balls he bowled in that phase which translated into KKR's second-best powerplay (37/1) this season in terms of runs conceded. It nearly matched up to their effort against SunRisers Hyderabad (35/2) in what was unsurprisingly their last and only victory before tonight.

KKR have had a poor powerplay record as a bowling unit in the last three editions. In IPL 2020, they picked the least number of wickets (13) in the first six overs, and this season hasn't been too different on that front. So it's not without reason that Morgan has bowled so many overs of spin inside the powerplay this year, and why he had Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy bowling with the newish ball when he needed to defend 134 against Rajasthan Royals. And at the Wankhede Stadium of all places.

"We had to try and go to our best bowlers. Narine and Chakravarthy are our two best bowlers," he had explained after the six-wicket loss.

It was then telling how, against PBKS, Narine's was the only over of spin bowled inside the powerplay; and bowled perhaps only because of a favourable match-up with KL Rahul. But Pat Cummins, as uneconomical as he was on the day, did what Narine couldn't and sent the PBKS captain on his way. It cleared the deck for Prasidh Krishna, another fast bowler who stepped up on the night and went on to register his season-best figures of 3 for 30.

It was the right time to bring on Krishna too. There was no Rahul and there was no Chris Gayle either, whom Mavi had sent on his way right after the powerplay. And so Krishna could use his pace and keep Deepak Hooda and Mayank Agarwal, two players not exactly known for their back foot play, in check. He even got Hooda edging one to gully, unsurprisingly after softening him up with a short, straight ball.

From overs 11 to 17, the spin twins took over like Morgan always expects them to. Narine and Chakravarthy created a stranglehold, conceding only 39 runs across 7 overs and picking three wickets. The dismissals were Mayank Agarwal, Moises Henriques and Nicholas Pooran, and in that order, thus breaking the back of PBKS's middle-order. Shahrukh Khan was probably the last man standing for them and Krishna accounted for him with -- yes, you guessed it right -- a short ball.

It was really a game where the bowling elements came together for KKR.

"The performance tonight really epitomized how the team wants to play. And displayed, certainly with the ball, how we want to go about our business. That's really, really encouraging," Morgan said after the game. "Up until now, the team has gone through really tough times. We have had a really slow start to the tournament and we haven't had the luck that you need.

"Throughout a tournament like this, you have to continually look forward at what can unfold as opposed to constantly looking behind. We can't undo anything that's already been done but building on tonight's performance is going to be an important move for us."

With three more games at the same venue, it's a good jumping point for KKR, but there are things to improve upon. Like death bowling and the consistency at the top of the order. PBKS, despite being seven wickets down, scored as many as 35 runs in the last two overs whereas a small run-chase of 124 looked more difficult than it should have. With that in mind, KKR seem far from that sought-after "perfect" win.

The search continues for Eoin Morgan.

(With stats inputs from Deepu Narayanan)