KOLKATA: Kolkata Knight Riders' overseas recruit Rovman Powell criticised an umpiring "blunder" and blamed the sluggish Eden Gardens pitch behind their narrow loss to Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL.
From 128/7 after 16 overs, LSG pulled off a three-wicket win in a last-ball thriller here on Thursday, powered by a stunning late assault from rookie Mukul Choudhary, who smashed an unbeaten 54 off 27 balls (7x6, 2x4).
"You want to make Eden Gardens your fortress, it's your home with your fans behind you. It always feels good at home, but credit to the youngster (Mukul), he batted really well," Powell said at the post-match media interaction, referring to KKR's four-match winless run, despite playing three at home.
Put in, KKR posted 181/4 but it felt they fell short of a 200-plus total after Finn Allen (9) was dismissed in controversial fashion. His top-edge was caught by Digvesh Rathi at deep third man, with replays suggesting his toes may have touched the boundary rope.
In a baffling call, the on-field umpires Adrian Holdstock (South Africa) and Akshay Totre (India) however did not refer the catch upstairs, ruling it clean.
"Definitely (more angles should have been looked at). We talked about that when he came off. We thought we had seen in the IPL that the umpires have gone upstairs for lesser things, and that are not as close as that," Powell said.
"Maybe it was a blunder on their part, but we're not going to look into that and say that is what cost us two points tonight," he added, stopping short of blaming the officials entirely.
Powell said stroke-making was not straightforward on the surface.
"It's not that classic Eden Gardens wicket where you just go and turn around the strike and blast. It was not a 220-wicket; there was a little bit in it for the bowlers, especially when they used the slower balls."
KKR now have just one point from four matches, earned via a rain washout against Punjab Kings on Monday, but Powell remains optimistic about a turnaround.
"If you see the history, the winners of IPL build up in the middle and back end of the tournament. It's not easy when you don't start well, but our destiny is still in our hands. We still have 10 games left."