Kolkata Knight Riders stunned Royal Challengers Bangalore by chipping in with a complete and comprehensive performance in the 9th match of the Indian Premier League at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
At one stage, it looked like RCB were actually winning the race when they kept KKR silent. The two-time IPL champions were reeling at 89/5 in 12 overs but things literally changed when Shardul Thakur and Rinku Singh brought the best out of themselves.
Shardul Thakur played the best innings of his IPL career as he chipped in with a quickfire fifty off just 20 balls. Shardul Thakur ended up scoring 68 off just 29 balls including 9 fours and 3 sixes to his name.
Rinku Singh also supported Shardul Thakur quite well by scoring 46 off 33 balls. The duo constructed a vital 103-run partnership for the sixth wicket and helped KKR post 204/7 in their quota of 20 overs.
Kolkata Knight Riders beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 81 runs
In response to KKR’s total, RCB got off to a superb start to the game in the form of Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli before the team ran through a batting collapse, courtesy of a brilliant spin bowling display.
The likes of Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine ripped through the defence of RCB’s batting unit. After losing plenty of wickets, RCB didn’t recover from the setback and ended up losing the plot completely. KKR opened their account with a win at their fortress. The two-time IPL champions won the game by 81 runs.
Kolkata Knight Riders’ playing XI: Mandeep Singh, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana (c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Shardul Thakur, Sunil Narine, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy
Royal Challengers Bangalore’s playing XI: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (c), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Michael Bracewell, Shahbaz Ahmed, David Willey, Karn Sharma, Harshal Patel, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj
It's simple logic then .
If Virat & Faf Fail Then No One Give You Match Wining Performance Such a disappointed by RCB Batting .
. #KKRvRCBAdvertisement— Gaurav Jha (@gauravjha1817) April 6, 2023
To be honest this was not a 200+ score pitch…siraj n harshal exposed more than batsmen…was difficult to chase with those spinners
Advertisement— Imperfect (@pspersevere33) April 6, 2023
Looks like our Vintage RCB is back. 😭😂🤣
Advertisement— j (@asliijp) April 6, 2023
Fun Fact: This is the 2nd Biggest Margin Win for KKR at Eden. Interestingly, their biggest Win at their home too came against RCB, when they bowled them out on the lowest total of 49 and won the match by 82 Runs !! #KKRvsRCB #IPL2023
Advertisement— Mustafa Moudi (@Mustafamoudi) April 6, 2023
Congratulations @KKRiders for winning #KKRvsRCB by 81 runs! Ami Kolkata we rule! @iamsrk#KKR #AmiKKR 💜 pic.twitter.com/H6FzgQpOD3
Advertisement— Shah Rukh Khan Universe Fan Club (@SRKUniverse) April 6, 2023
We already lost this match at the toss, teams batting first here have won 2× games than teams batting second and also we RCB Fans are expecting them to perform well without Rajat, Hasaranga & Hazlewood#KKRvsRCB #IPL2023
Advertisement— ᴠɪʀᴀᴛsᴛᴀɴɴɴ™ (@yourboyhamza18_) April 6, 2023