The 26-year-old seems to be growing with every outing, after the stuttering start to a campaign when he seemed to be weighed down by his record-breaking price tag, and on Wednesday, bowled superbly to ignite KKR's charge to a four-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians at Eden Gardens.
Having elected to bowl first in front of their home fans, Green's opening over, the third of the innings, proved critical as he grabbed two key wickets in four balls to leave the visitors rocking at 2-17.
First, he induced a soaring top-edge from Ryan Rickelton that finally came down to earth in Manish Pandey's hands at point, then got Naman Dhir fishing outside off and caught behind, a not-out verdict that was overturned on review.Â
It set the tone for KKR, who never really took the foot off Mumbai's throat after that, with Saurabh Dubey taking 2-34 and Kartik Tyagi 2-37. Still, Green was outstanding with his 2-23, including nine dot balls, off his three overs, plus a fine catch off a steepler, even if it was Surine Narine who, predictably, outshone everyone with his 1-13.
Going at just 3.25 an over is a staggering achievement in the IPL, and it helped KKR restrict Mumbai to 8-147, which wouldn't have had that air of respectability without Corbin Bosch boshing an unbeaten 32 off 18 balls at the death.
It wasn't a straightforward chase as the in-form Finn Allen (eight off five), captain Ajinkya Rahane (21 off 17) and Green, who didn't have such a good night with the bat as he got caught at fine leg for just four off his eight deliveries.
But Pandey, with 45 off 33 balls and Rovman Powell (40 off 30) broke the back of the chase, as Kolkata reached 6-148 with seven balls to spare for a sixth win in their last seven games.
That's a remarkable turnaround after they began the season by losing their first five completed matches. Now, just a point behind fourth-placed Rajasthan Royals in sixth place, they're scenting a spot in the knock-outs.
"After that first win, we started believing," captain Ajinkya Rahane said of Kolkata's turnaround that started with a victory over Rajasthan this time last month.
Still, Rajasthan look poised to book their place if wonder boy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi maintains his extraordinary form against Mumbai on Sunday.
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