Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are back in business, and how! The Nitish Rana-led Knight Riders bounced back from a defeat in a rain-marred game against Punjab Kings by troucing an upbeat Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by 81 runs.
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Not only did the two-time IPL champions collect their first points of IPL 2023 with the all-round display and jump to the third spot on the IPL 2023 points table, the victory also marked their triumphant return to their home venue of the Eden Gardens, where they hadn’t played a match since 2019.
RCB, meanwhile, slipped to the seventh spot following the disastrous defeat, suffering a role reversal at Eden after hammering five-time winners Mumbai Indians by eight wickets in their opening game at the M Chinnaswamy, and the Faf du Plessis-led side will have to head back to the drawing board ahead of three consecutive home matches.
Looking back at the events of the KKR-RCB clash, we bring to you some of the top moments from the game:
Gurbaz slams maiden fifty
Rahmanullah Gurbaz certainly been quite the exciting option for the Knight Riders at the top of the order. The Afghan wicketkeeper-batter got off to a promising start against Punjab Kings on Saturday before getting dismissed for 22.
On Thursday though, Gurbaz finally brought up his maiden IPL half-century in only his second game in the league, standing tall even as wickets fell in a cluster at the other end. Gurbaz, who has 56 white-ball appearances to his credit for Afghanistan, would score 57 off 44 balls, collecting six fours and three maximums before getting dismissed by Karn Sharma in the 12th over.
Two-in-two for Willey, Karn
RCB had entered this game with the momentum in their favour following their outplaying for MI in Bengaluru, and had KKR on the mat at one stage after inviting them to bat, thanks to David Willey and Karn Sharma’s double strikes, both collecting two wickets in as many deliveries.
Willey, who came into the XI in place of the injured Reece Topley, hit the timber twice in as many deliveries to send opener Venkatesh Iyer and No 3 batter Mandeep Singh in successive deliveries while Karn, an IPL veteran, would bag the prized wickets of a well-set Gurbaz as well as Andre Russell, the latter departing for a golden duck after smashing a quickfire 35 against Punjab over the weekend. At 89/5, KKR appeared headed for another under-par batting performance.
‘Lord Thakur’ turns the game on its head
While Rinku Singh’s presence at the crease gave the Knight Riders hope of mounting a rescue act and going past the 150-mark, few would’ve expected Shardul Thakur to take centrestage with the bat and produce the knock of a lifetime to blow the rampaging RCB attack away and turn the game on its head.
Not only would the ‘Lord’, the title bestowed upon the talented all-rounder from Palghar by adoring fans, bring up his maiden half-century in his eighth season, he would also give some of the more established batters a run for their money by scoring the joint-quickest fifty of the season so far. Thakur would go on to score 68 off just 29 deliveries, stitching a 103-run stand with Rinku (46) for the sixth wicket that helped KKR go past 200 in the end.
Chakravarthy, Narine snuff out RCB’s hopes
Though the momentum was firmly on KKR’s side following Thakur and Rinku’s partnership, in-form RCB openers Virat Kohli and skipper Faf du Plessis threatened to derail KKR’s hopes with a solid opening stand that saw the visitors race to 42/0 at the end of four overs.
Skipper Nitish Rana then turned to spin from both ends, and Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy delivered right away, getting rid of Kohli and Faf respectively in their first overs, with both hitting the stumps. Chakravarthy would then get rid of Glenn Maxwell and Harshal Patel in a space of three deliveries in his second over while Narine got Shahbaz Ahmed caught at deep point as Bangalore lost half their side with a little over 60 on board chasing 205 to win.
The game was as good as over by that point. The scoreboard pressure exerted by KKR got the better of the RCB batting lineup.
A debut to remember for young Suyash
Leg-spinner Suyash Sharma hadn’t played a single competitive match before being drafted into the KKR XI as an Impact Player during their defence of the 205-run target, replacing Venkatesh Iyer in the XI.
And yet the young headband-wearing leg-spinner who is yet to touch 20 years of age ended up bagging a haul of 3/30, not only polishing off the RCB lower-order but completing a memorable debut. Kolkata already had potent spin options in Narine and Chakravarthy, and now Suyash’s breakthrough performance has given them another valuable option.
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