There was a six off Shamar Joseph that should have been caught really but for Arshad Khan to palm it over the deep square-leg boundary. A thick inside edge off Arshad going perilously close by the stumps before running away for a boundary was borderline streaky. Another inside edge off Arshad, this time with no footwork and barely any conviction, and it could be easily surmised that Phil Salt was living a charmed life. He was, but the difference between anyone else and Salt is he finishes the job.
Two matches at Eden, two fifties, this 47-ball 89* even more emphatic than the 40-ball 54 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Salt’s home form is now taking the shape of a compelling narrative. A 16-ball 30 by the time Kolkata Knight Riders were done with the Powerplay was utterly satisfying though not without its share of hiccups. Taking KKR to 58/2 after six overs, thus maintaining a tournament-topping Powerplay run rate of 11.12, Salt could have simply geared up without caring for his wicket. But he dug in to stitch a 120-run partnership with Shreyas Iyer. And for good reason too.
While Sunil Narine went out in a blaze of glory, miscuing Mohsin Khan’s hard length ball to Marcus Stoinis at cover point, Angkrish Raghuvanshi almost guided Mohsin to KL Rahul and Iyer visibly struggled to clear the infield, Salt looked intent on making his start count. Those inside edges were possibly when Salt understood he had to cut down on the horizontal shots a bit. Lucknow Super Giants’ frivolous lines helped him. Almost cutting Salt into half with a beauty of a length ball, Arshad bowled the next ball so wide that the Englishman had no problem fiercely cutting him through backward point to bring up his fifty in just 26 balls.
Ravi Bishnoi was the first spinner who seemed to properly challenge Salt, varying his pace and lengths brilliantly but by then the pitch was easing up as well. “Before the lights came on, I felt it was a little slower. When they came on, there was a bit more moisture to allow the ball to slide on, so it got a bit better for our innings,” Salt said after the match. It was Eden’s bounce though that really got Salt excited. “In India, this (Eden Gardens pitch) is probably the most similar to home. Ball bounces a bit more and you can aim squarer.” You could see what Salt meant by that when he slapped Yash Thakur’s attempted slower ball over extra cover for what was the third boundary in the 14th over, helping KKR really run away with the chase.
{{/usCountry}}Ravi Bishnoi was the first spinner who seemed to properly challenge Salt, varying his pace and lengths brilliantly but by then the pitch was easing up as well. “Before the lights came on, I felt it was a little slower. When they came on, there was a bit more moisture to allow the ball to slide on, so it got a bit better for our innings,” Salt said after the match. It was Eden’s bounce though that really got Salt excited. “In India, this (Eden Gardens pitch) is probably the most similar to home. Ball bounces a bit more and you can aim squarer.” You could see what Salt meant by that when he slapped Yash Thakur’s attempted slower ball over extra cover for what was the third boundary in the 14th over, helping KKR really run away with the chase.
{{/usCountry}}Not that LSG had a great score to defend in the first place. Without Nicholas Pooran’s comparatively slower 32-ball 45, the score could have been much less. And that was largely because LSG couldn’t really shift gears in the middle overs when they averaged just 7.11 per over. Rahul and Ayush Badoni showed promise but couldn’t convert their starts, Narine once again notched up a boundary-less 1/17, and Mitchell Starc finally showed a few glimpses of his worth in the final over where he conceded just six runs apart from dismissing Pooran and Arshad. Not before Pooran's arrival could LSG stitch one 40-plus partnership.
KKR’s assault, starting off with a 22-run over against Joseph, however immediately spelt out the difference in batting approach. LSG were error-prone too, not taking pace off the ball till Mohsin entered the stage, spilling catches, most strikingly off Salt. But Salt picking a back of the length slower ball from Mohsin and clobbering over midwicket for a six was the moment LSG were told they had been well and truly outbatted.