Picture Courtesy : The Indian Express
There was lot of curiosity as to how Kolkata Knight Riders would play under a new skipper in IPL 2018. Gautam Gambhir returned back to Delhi and hence Dinesh karthik was named skipper of the KKR. It is not easy to fill in Gautam’s shoes especially after the left- hander had led them to two IPL titles in 2012 and 2014.
But the beginning has been a good one . The KKR restricted the powerful RCB to 176-7 in their allotted 20 overs. A good job considering the line-up having Quinton De Kock, Brendon McCullum, A B De Villiers and skipper Virat Kohli. Brendon McCullum scored 43 off just 27 deliveries. AB de Villiers and Mandeep singh too chipped in with valuable contributions of 44 and 37 respectively. For KKR , Part time off-spinner Nitish Rana (2/11) picked up the big wickets of A.B. de Villiers and skipper Virat Kohli ( 31 off 33 balls) in successive deliveries to reduce the visitors to 127/4 in 14.3 overs.
In reply , Sunil Narine got the KKR off to a flier Scoring a blazing 17 ball 50 to rattle the RCB bowling . Later on hard- hitting Nitish Rana ( 34) and skipper Dinesh Karthik unbeaten on 35 helped the team clinch the match by 4 wickets to spare at the packed Eden gardens stadium. Among those present in the stands included the KKR co- owner Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan along with daughter Suhana.
