IPL: KKR beats RCB by 81 runs

APRIL 7: Kolkata Knight Riders bounced back after defeat against Punjab Kings in their opener to beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 81 runs in Match 9 of the TATA IPL 2023 at the Eden Gardens.

Shardul Thakur's stunning counter-attacking innings of 68(29) coupled with calculated knocks from Rahmanullah Gurbaz (57 off 44) and Rinku Singh (46 off 33) helped KKR post a daunting 204/7 after recovering from 89/5. The KKR spinners then came to the party as Varun Chakravarthy (4/15), Sunil Narine (2/16) and debutant Suyash Sharma (3/30) spun a web around the RCB batters to bowl them out for 123 and win the match by 81 runs.

Chasing 205, RCB openers Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis got the away side off to a brisk start. Kohli got into the groove early as he hit a couple of well-placed fours to score 10 off the first over from Umesh Yadav. The pair then took on Southee as Kohli smacked one over mid on for a four and Du Plessis smashed a couple of sixes and a four to make it a 23-run over.

Nitish Rana then introduced Sunil Narine into the attack and the move paid rich dividends as he cleaned up Kohli for 21(18) and gave away just three singles. Another bowling change worked as Varun Chakravarthy had Du Plessis drag one onto the stumps in the next over. The introduction of spin did the trick for KKR as RCB reached 50/2 at the end of the Powerplay.

Chakravarthy had two more, in one over, as he knocked back Glenn Maxwell's off stump with a googly and disturbed the furniture again a ball later as he made Harshal Patel chop one onto the stumps. The RCB collapse continued as Narine sent back Shahbaz Ahmed and Shardul's golden arm struck to remove Bracewell.

RCB sent their Impact Player - Anuj Rawat - to bat at No.8. He replaced Mohd. Siraj.

It was the other Impact Player though who made the impact as Suyash Sharma picked two wickets in an over. He had Anuj Rawat and Dinesh Karthik caught at short third man to reduce RCB to 86/8. He picked up his third, having Karn Sharma caught at first slip after a successful review. He finished with superb figures of 3/30 on debut.

David Willey and Akash Deep then cracked a few boundaries but Chakravarthy came back to wrap the RCB innings on 123 with a brilliant caught and bowled of Akash Deep as KKR won the match by 81 runs.

Earlier, Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Faf du Plessis won the toss and elected to bowl. They made one change to the side as David Willey replaced the injured Reece Topley. RCB named Finn Allen, Sonu Yadav, Mahipal Lomror, Suyash Prabhudessai and Anuj Rawat as their substitutes.

Kolkata Knight Riders too made one change as Venkatesh Iyer replaced Anukul Roy. They named Suyash Sharma, Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, N Jagadeesan and David Wiese as their substitutes.

RCB pacer Mohd. Siraj had a mixed start as he started off with two good outswingers in the first over which Rahmanullah Gurbaz left alone but Gurbaz gave him the charge next ball and Siraj sprayed it way down the leg side for FIVE WIDES. A leave later, Gurbaz placed one wide of third man for a four as KKR scored 9 off the first over.

Willey bowled a disciplined second over and gave away just three singles. Siraj though continued to leak runs as Gurbaz smashed one through point for a four and then a ripper from Siraj beat Gurbaz' inside edge and beat the keeper as well to fly away for four byes to fine leg. Gurbaz then placed one wide of short third man for another four as they scored 14 off the over.

Willey set the stage on fire in the next over as he cleaned up Venkatesh Iyer with one that jagged back in and then hit the timber again with one that moved away to make it two wickets in two balls. He ended up bowling a double wicket maiden to peg KKR back.

Gurbaz though continued to play attacking strokes as he pulled one over fine leg off a no ball from Akash Deep and then looked to trickle one to fine leg but seemed to miss it and it ran away for four leg byes. Deep conceded 15 from the over.

Willey bowled another fine over and gave away just six as KKR reached 47/2 at the end of the Powerplay. Willey was brilliant in the first six overs with figures of 3-1-9-2.

Faf du Plessis introduced Michael Bracewell into the attack post Powerplay and he struck off the first ball having KKR captain Nitish Rana caught behind. Rana looked to reverse sweep but the ball lobbed off the glove into the gloves of the keeper. The umpire gave it not out but RCB reviewed it and replays showed that the ball indeed brushed the glove.

Gurbaz then reviewed it rightly as he was given out LBW off Shahbaz Ahmed but he asked to go upstairs and replays showed it had hit his glove and then pad while trying to sweep. The Afghanistan batter finally broke the boundary drought as he swept one powerfully off Shahbaz to deep square leg for the first four after 13 balls and followed it up with a massive six over wide long on and a muscular pull over mid-wicket for a four off the Bracewell over to provide some sort of momentum. He brought up his fifty off 38 balls as he swept one for a six behind deep backward square leg off Karn Sharma as KKR reached 79/3 at the halfway stage.

Karn then provided a huge moment in the match as he sent back the set Gurbaz and Andre Russell off consecutive balls to jolt KKR. Gurbaz (57 off 44) reverse swept one uppishly and Akash Deep pouched a very good catch at short third man and off the next ball, Russell mistimed his loft straight to Kohli at long off.

Shardul Thakur strode out and turned the tables with a stunning counter-attack. He took the aggressive route straightaway as he smashed a couple of fours and a six off Akash Deep to accumulate 19 runs off the over. He then muscled a slog sweep off Karn Sharma for a four and then went after Bracewell to hit consecutive sixes to bring up the 50-run stand with Rinku Singh off just 21 balls. KKR scored 46 in three overs (13 to 15) but Willey again pulled things back a bit giving away just seven off his final over to finish with excellent figures of 4-1-16-2.

Shardul Thakur brought up his maiden IPL fifty, off just 20 balls as he smacked one over mid-wicket for a four off Harshal Patel. The pair garnered 13 off the Harshal over and were unstoppable as they took the attack to Siraj, scoring 15 off the 18th over. Rinku brought up the 100-run stand as he went berserk against Harshal hitting him for a four and a couple of sixes but Harshal fought back to have him caught behind off a short ball off the last ball of the over.

Shardul continued to smash any and everything as he cracked one over extra cover for a four off Siraj in the last over. The pacer however hit back to dismiss Shardul (68 off 29) off a short ball three balls later. Umesh Yadav took them past 200 with six runs off two balls as KKR recovered from 89/5 to post 204/7.

KKR introduced Suyash Sharma as their Impact player in place of Venkatesh Iyer at the start of their bowling innings.