IPL 2023: Gurbaaz, Thakur, Chakravarthy, Suyash rattle RCB as KKR triumphs by 81 runs; fans thrilled
IPL 2023: Kolkata Knight Riders bounced back in style from its opening defeat to punch Royal Challengers Bangalore by 81 runs on Thursday, with Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Shardul Thakur, Varun Chakravarthy and Suyash Sharma making a difference.
FollowIt was a distinguished comeback from former two-time champion Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) after a defeat in its opening tie of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL). On Thursday, as it hosted Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Match 9 at the iconic Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata, with the visitors coming off an opening conquest, KKR cruised to a crushing 81-run win, thanks to contributions from Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Shardul Thakur, Varun Chakravarthy and Suyash Sharma.
Winning the toss, RCB invited KKR to bat, as the hosts lost a couple of wickets for 26 by the fourth over of the PowerPlay (PP) and were 47/3 by the seventh. Opener Gurbaz (57) and Rinku Singh (46) then added 42 for the fourth wicket, while the former slammed his maiden IPL half-century before falling to leg-spinner Karn Sharma in the 12th.
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Going down to 89/5 by the same over, Rinku and Thakur (68) changed the complexion of the KKR innings thereon, contributing to a 103-run partnership for the sixth wicket, setting the platform for a mammoth total. The stand was broken in the 19th pacer Harshal Patel who removed the former, while the latter, too, struck his maiden IPL 50 before falling six runs later, at 198, to pacer Mohammed Siraj in the subsequent over.
Eventually, KKR posted a monumental total of 204/7, while for RCB, pacer David Willey and Karn held a couple each, whereas the former was incredibly economical. Before the beginning of the RCB chase, KKR brought handed mystery spinner Suyash his IPL debut as the Impact Player (IPL), replacing opener Venkatesh Iyer (3).
RCB was off to a great start, with openers Virat Kohli (21) and skipper Faf du Plessis (23) putting on 44 runs before the former was knocked over by mystery spinner Sunil Narine in the fifth over of the PP. Thereon, it was an utter collapse from the visitors, who could barely script an effective partnership, kept losing wickets regularly and were eventually bundled out for 123 by the 15th.
Even Anuj Rawat (1) coming in for Siraj as the IP failed to make a difference for RCB. For KKR, leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy clutched four, Suyash clasped three, and Narine was the most economical.
