Picture : IPL / X
Kolkata Knight Riders Began their Tata IPL 2024 campaign on winning note with a thrilling 4 wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
SRH Skipper Pat Cummins won the toss and opted bowl first . And KKR were in a spot of bother as top order flopped . Sunil Narine (2), Skipper Shreyas Iyer (0), Venkatesh Iyer ( 7), Nitish Rana (9). Opener Philip Salt blazed away to a brilliant 54 ( 40 balls, 3 fours, 3 sixes). Ramandeep Singh chipped in valuable 17 ball 35 ( 1 four , 4 sixes) . But it was brutal power of Andre Russell not out 64 ( 25 balls, 3 fours , 7 sixes) , Rinku Singh 23 ( 15 balls , 3 fours) saw Kolkata reach an imposing 208/ 7 in their 20 overs.
SRH bowling at the death needs to be addressed. Bhuvneshwar Kumar 0/ 51 ( 4 overs), Marco Jansen 0/ 40 ( 4 overs), T Natarajan 3/ 32 ( 4 overs) , Pat Cummins 1/ 32 ( 4 overs), Mayank Markande 2/ 39 ( 4 overs), Shahbaz Ahmed 0/ 14 ( 1 over)
In reply SRH were positive despite the huge total. Openers – Mayank Agarwal 32 ( 21 balls, 4 fours, 1 six) and Abhishek Sharma 32 ( 19 balls, 4 fours, 2 sixes) put on 60 for the first wicket in just 5. 3 overs. The chase was on . Rahul Tripathi ( 20) and Aiden Markram ( 18) did not carry on . But the innings which Kolkata the scare was sensational Heinrich Klaasen 63 ( 29 balls, 8 sixes) . Abdul Samad ( 15 ) and Shahbaz Ahmed 16 battled out but just could not carry the team over the line .
With 5 runs needed off the final ball, Pat Cummins could not connect , resulting in SRH falling short at 204-7. KKR winning by narrowest of margins by 4 runs.
For KKR big signing Mitchell Starc went for a plenty 0/ 53 ( 4 overs), Harshit Rana 3/33 ( 4 overs), Varun Chakaravarthy 1/ 55 ( 4 overs), Sunil Narine 1/ 19 ( 4 overs), Andre Russell 2/ 25 ( 2 overs), Suyash Sharma 0/ 18 ( 2 overs)
The KKR win was watched from the stands by the team’s co- owner and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan. The Pathaan star wore sunglasses and white- T shirt and watched the match closely.
Match: IPL 2024, 3rd Match
Venue: Kolkata | Date: March 23, 2024
