Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) scripted a dominating victory in their face-off against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Eden Gardens on Thursday.
Put into bat, KKR got off to a shaky start, losing Venkatesh Iyer and Mandeep Singh for just 4 runs on the board. However, Rahmanullah Gurbaz played a brilliant knock of 57 runs off 44 balls, including 6 fours and 3 sixes, to provide a strong foundation for the team.
Rinku Singh (46 off 33) and Shardul Thakur (68 off 29) then took over and propelled KKR to a mammoth total of 204/7 in their 20 overs. For RCB, David Willey (2/16) and Karn Sharma (2/26) were the pick of the bowlers.
In reply, RCB got off to a decent start, with Virat Kohli (21 off 18) and Faf du Plessis (23 off 12) adding 44 runs for the opening wicket. However, once Du Plessis was dismissed, it opened the floodgates as RCB kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were never really in the chase.
Only David Willey (20 off 20) and Akash Deep (17 off 8) could make some impact, as RCB were bowled out for 123 in 17.4 overs, losing the contest by 81 runs. For KKR, Varun Chakravarthy (4/15) and Suyash Sharma (3/30) were the chief destroyers, while Sunil Narine (2/16) bagged a couple.
Here is how Twitter reacted:
El-Primero ends with a W pic.twitter.com/pgtiafQiaQ
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) April 6, 2023
Another #KKRvsRCB thriller!! Started with @RGurbaz_21 and @imShard followed by @chakaravarthy29 and the debutant Suyash, what a show these guys have put on in their home ground!! Unbelievable stuff from @imShard!! 👏🏾
— Robin Aiyuda Uthappa (@robbieuthappa) April 6, 2023
A memorable first victory of #TATAIPL 2023 at home.@KKRiders secure a clinical 81-run win over #RCB ⚡️⚡️
Scorecard – https://t.co/J6wVwbsfV2#TATAIPL | #KKRvRCB pic.twitter.com/0u57nKO57G
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 6, 2023
Spin it to win it for KKR…
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) April 6, 2023
Largest victories in #IPL (by runs) for Kolkata Knight Riders:
140 runs vs RCB, 2008
86 runs vs Royals, 2021
82 runs vs RCB, 2017
81 runs vs RCB, 2023#IPL2023 | #KKRvRCB— 🏏Flashscore Cricket Commentators (@FlashCric) April 6, 2023
Lord Shardul .. Lord Rinku ..
Zabardast clean hitting #RcbvKKR— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) April 6, 2023
A night to remember for KKR 🙂#cricket #KKRvRCB #IPL2023 | #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/PwiXOD42Lo
— CricketTimes.com (@CricketTimesHQ) April 6, 2023
RCB have been shocking tonight. To lose this, and the way they have, they’ve sent out signals to other teams: spin will be their nemesis #RCB #RCBvsKKR
— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) April 6, 2023
KKR defeated RCB by 81 runs in IPL 2023.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) April 6, 2023
That big defeat early season for RCB and they chase NRR for rest of the tournament!!!
— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) April 6, 2023
You never can tell in our sport! Who would have imagined this! #KKRvRCB
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 6, 2023
Zero prior First-class, List A, or T20 matches in the bag before this game.
The 19-year-old comes as an impact player and picks three wickets for 30. Secure a win for KKR at home. Fantastic #SuyashSharma pic.twitter.com/hZjQACeOqz
— Ridhima Pathak (@PathakRidhima) April 6, 2023
A final wicket partnership of 27 from 19 got RCB over the 100 run mark but they’re bowled out for 123 – dismal performance
KKR win by 81 runs#IPL2023
— ThePoppingCrease (@PoppingCreaseSA) April 6, 2023
The Man, The Myth, The Legend.
Lord Shardul 👑 💜#KKRvRCB pic.twitter.com/5OdpCNsbPO— Sir BoiesX 🕯 (@BoiesX45) April 6, 2023
Two impactful IPL debuts in two days – Dhruv Jurel and Suyash Sharma #KKRvsRCB
— Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) April 6, 2023