Kagiso Rabada reckons the extra bounce he found in Ahmedabad was “probably my ally” on Friday night, and the numbers back him up. His 3 for 29 – all three wickets coming in the powerplay – left Kolkata Knight Riders 37 for 3 and gave Gujarat Titans the sort of control they like to have before the middle overs even begin. The chase of 181 still dragged into the final over, yet the home side never looked truly flustered.
Powerplay blueprint
Titans tend to plan thoroughly, and this match was no exception. Rather than spreading the new-ball overs around, they handed Rabada and Mohammed Siraj three apiece up front. Rabada explained the thinking straight after the game:
“In India, it’s basically looking at three scenarios, whether you’re bowling on black [soil] or red [soil] or a combination, and then sometimes a wicket’s not really going to play the way that you expect it to play,” he said. “Having a look at this wicket today, it looked pretty similar to the other red-soil pitches that we’ve played on but it behaved a little bit differently, although quite similar.”
The surface contained just enough moisture to make life awkward for batters willing to throw their hands through the line. Rabada added that “with the new ball, perhaps there was a bit more moisture and it was a bit more two-paced, a little bit of uneven bounce, so the batsmen couldn’t really throw their hands at everything, they had to really check their strokes.”
Siraj, more skiddy by nature, found movement at knee height; Rabada preferred the ball that kissed the splice. “Extra bounce has probably been my ally throughout my entire career,” he said. “Some bowlers are more skiddy, some bowlers get more extra bounce. You have a look at a guy like Siraj, he’s more skiddy. And on wickets that stay low, he becomes a lot more of a threat than I do.”
Death overs squeeze
KKR were thinking 200 when Rinku Singh and Nitish Rana were set, but Titans conceded only 23 in the final four overs. Rashid Khan landed four leg-breaks in a row at one stage, a simple yet effective slowing of pace; Noor Ahmad backed him up with fuller, flatter left-arm spin. The result was a target that felt a touch below par, though not by much.
Do Titans score quickly enough?
The chase was orderly rather than explosive. Shubman Gill cleared mid-wicket twice, Sai Sudharsan threaded the in-field, and David Miller waited until the 18th over before opening his shoulders. It took 19.4 overs to get home. Net run-rate is not perfect science, but it can decide semi-final berths; fourth place on the table looks fine now, though the margin for error is shrinking.
Rabada is relaxed about that calculation. “The most important thing as a team is to prioritise the win first and the net run-rate, it will come,” he said. “I think prioritising the win first is important and playing the situation accordingly.”
Potential tweaks
Ambati Rayudu, analysing on television, wondered whether Titans might stiffen their middle order by picking the all-round experience of Jason Holder. That feels a fair question when two chases in a row have spilled into the 20th over, yet the coaching staff appear happy to lean on a bowling attack that keeps totals within reach.
Form check
Rabada’s economy rate had crept above ten before this match, so three wickets and fewer freebies were handy for him personally. “At the end of the day, it’s about extracting all that you can from wickets that might seem placid, but today it wasn’t placid at all,” he said.
Where next?
Titans stay in Ahmedabad for a mid-week fixture that could tighten the table even further. KKR, still mid-pack themselves, head south knowing their top order needs to absorb the new ball better.
Not a flawless performance from either side, then, yet a disciplined one from Gujarat – and, for Rabada, proof that bounce on an Indian red-soil strip can still be a fast bowler’s best friend.
