Why are Kolkata Knight Riders struggling to defend totals? 

#2 Overdependence on Sunil Narine

As soon as Sunil Narine goes off, the runs start to flow once again

One thing that is often noticed in KKR’s bowling efforts when they defend a score is that they seem to exert some sort of control when Sunil Narine is in operation but as soon as he goes off, the runs start to flow once again. For instance, when CSK chased down 202 earlier in the tournament, the right arm spinner went for only 17 runs in 4 overs and picked up the crucial wicket of Raina.

However, the rest of the bowlers could not defend 186 in 16 overs. The same happened against Sunrisers Hyderabad when defending a paltry total of 138, Narine returned figures of 2-17 in his quota but the others could not quite give him the support. However, against KXIP, even Narine was taken to the cleaners and KKR sank quickly at home. All teams depend on their top bowlers but KKR’s dependency is perhaps damaging.