West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee congratulated KKR for their outstanding performance on Thursday.
“Today’s victory is extremely special because it is also the first match of the season in Eden Gardens Stadium! Heartiest congratulations to @KKRiders…every single player gave their best. Good luck for all upcoming matches!,” the West Bengal chief minister tweeted.
Kolkata Knight Riders staged great show to overturn the odds with a blockbuster performance at the Eden Gardens on Thursday and defeat Royal Challengers Bangalore by a mammoth 81 runs.
Invited to bat, the visitors were outdone by Rahmanullah Gurbaz who who struck six boundaries and three maximums en route to 57 off 44 deliveries but his dismissal in the 12th over along with Andre Russell for a duck the next ball made things worrisome.
It was Shardul Thakur next who proved his mettle. The all rounder found the ropes hit nine times and managed to clear the fence on three occasions during his 29-ball 68 while Rinku Singh anchored the innings along on the other end, eventually ending with 46 off 33 deliveries. As a result of the duo’s onslaught, David Willey was the only bowler who managed respectable figures for the red and gold brigade, conceding just 16 runs in his four overs which included a double-wicket maiden. Thakur powered KKR to 204/7 from a worrisome 89-5 in the 12th over.
The visitors had a good start with both Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis plundering boundaries that also resulted in a 23-run over for Tim Southee. However, once the former was outdone by a Sunil Narine beauty in the fifth over the teams spirit was let down.
RCB crashed to 123 all out in reply as the home team’s spinners ran amok, with Varun Chakravarthy got rid of Faf just three balls later and suddenly the side was down to 61/5 by the end of nine overs. Thereon, 19-year-old Suyash Sharma’ professional T20 debut fetched three wickets to fold RCB out for 123. Sunil Narine ended with two wickets for his 16 runs while Chakravarthy had dream figures of 3.4-0-15-4.
Capping off an unforgettable debut for the Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens, Suyash bagged the crucial wickets of Dinesh Karthik (9), Anuj Rawat (1) and Karn Sharma (1) in the lopsided contest. The KKR youngster bagged three wickets for 30 runs in his full quota of 4 overs.