Data Shorts: KKR get their PowerPlay act right

KKR's PowerPlay Act Right

When KKR acquired Mitchell Starc in the IPL 2024 auction, it raised eyebrows. However, the franchise knew what they were doing. Since the start of the 2018 cycle, KKR had averaged fewer than 1.5 PowerPlay wickets per innings. Starc brought a high ceiling, and that upside paid off. He took time to settle but broke open games with new-ball spells, notably blowing away SRH twice in the space of a week.

Coming into the contest against CSK, KKR had taken just five new-ball wickets all season, with a PowerPlay average of 56.20 – the worst among all teams. However, they had a new strategy. Moeen Ali, replacing Johnson in the XI, was handed the new ball. On a ground he knows well, Moeen struck with the wicket of Devon Conway and bowled the first maiden over by a spinner in IPL 2025.

That move gave KKR the luxury of holding back Narine and Chakravarthy to target CSK's middle order, and they did just that, combining for 8 overs, 35 runs, and key wickets that wrecked CSK's backbone. It was a night when the defending champions got their PowerPlay game spot on – setting the tone for a memorable win that propelled them to third on the points table.