Chennai: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) fell to a stunning 10-run defeat to Mumbai Indians (MI) despite being in a dominant position for much of the match and their owner, Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, ended up apologising to fans for the performance.
"Disappointing performance. to say the least @KKRiders apologies to all the fans!" Shah Rukh wrote on Twitter.
KKR all-rounder Andre Russell said that while he supports team owner and Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan's tweet apologising to fans of the team for their defeat to Mumbai Indians (MI), the team is still confident and will learn from the loss.
"Yeah, I support that (Shah Rukh Khan) tweet but at the end of the day the game of cricket... you are not sure until it's over," said Russell in the post-match press conference. "We are still confident and playing some good cricket and I am proud of the boys. We are definitely dissapointed but it's not the end of the road. It's our second game and we will definitely learn from it," he said.
Russell said that the wicket was a difficult one to bat on. "It is a difficult wicket to bat on and it is not easy for a new batsman to come in and start the hitting from ball one. It is very challenging, even for me the ball was a bit up and down. It is not the easiest wicket to bat on, no matter how good you are you still need a couple of balls to actually get your eye in," said Russell.
Russell's five-wicket haul had helped KKR dismiss MI for 153 and while they were cruising for much of the chase, a collapse after 72-run opening partnership led them to being restricted to 142/7.
