Kolkata defeated Bengaluru by 81 runs, thanks to Shardul Thakur’s fifty

Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by a huge margin of 81 runs in the Indian Premier League (IPL). At the Eden Gardens stadium, KKR scored 204 runs for 7 wickets in 20 overs while batting first after losing the toss. RCB’s response saw them score just 123 runs in 17.4 overs

Shardul Thakur from Kolkata had a game-changing inning in the first innings, scoring 68 runs off 29 balls. Varun Chakraborty took 4 wickets in the second innings, Suyash Sharma 3, and Sunil Narine 2, preventing RCB from playing uninhibitedly.

1. Shardul’s fiery  batsmanship

The first innings saw 89 runs and 5 wickets lost for Kolkata Knight Riders. After that, Shardul Thakur scored 68 runs on 29 balls while at bat. Together with Rinku Singh, he scored 103 runs to help the team surpass 200.

2. Spinners changed the game.

RCB scored 42 runs in 4 overs while chasing a 205-run target. Varun Chakraborty and Sunil Narine, on the other hand, dismissed five batsmen in 17 runs. Suyyash Sharma finished with three wickets to put RCB on the back foot.

3. Big innings failed to occur

Nobody from the RCB could muster a strong inning. There were no significant partnerships in the game other than the 44-run opening partnership. The team continued to lose wickets and was unable to recover in the second innings.

2 wickets fell in the powerplay.

After winning the toss and choosing to bat first, Rahmanullah Gurbaj gave Kolkata a quick start. However, David Willey dismissed Venkatesh Iyer and Mandeep Singh in the fourth over, shattering Kolkata’s resistance. The team’s score increased to 47 after six over thanks to some big shots from Gurbaj in the final over of the powerplay.

Mandeep made an erroneous record.

For the fifteenth time in the IPL, Mandeep Singh of the KKR was bowled on zero. He has climbed to the top of the list of competitors who have been kicked out of the tournament the most times. With 14 dismissals each, Dinesh Karthik and Rohit Sharma are second on this list.

Gurbaj scored 50 points in 38 shots.

In 38 balls, Rahmanullah Gurbaz reached his first fifty. In the powerplay, he made significant plays. After the first wicket was lost, he took control of the innings and finished off his half-century. After scoring 57 runs in 44 balls, he was caught out.

Russell was sent to the pavilion by Karn Sharma.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz was caught by Bengaluru’s Karn Sharma in the 12th over. He scored 57 runs and went back to the pavilion. On the next ball, Andre Russell was also tripped up.

With the score at 89 runs and a century partnership between Rinku and Shardul, Kolkata lost 5 wickets at once. The next batter, Shardul Thakur, played powerful shots. He scored 50 in 20 balls and then, in 47 balls, partnered with Rinku Singh for 103 runs. After scoring 68 runs, Rinku 46 and Shardul were caught off guard.

The remaining batters for Kolkata were Venkatesh Iyer 3, Mandeep Singh 0, Nitish Rana 1, and Andre Russell, all of whom were dismissed for 0 runs. Both Sunil Narine and Umesh Yadav are still unbeaten. David Willey and Karn Sharma took 2-2 Bangalore wickets. Mohammad Siraj and Harshal Patel, however, were successful 1–1.

Read Also:- Kane Williamson may not play in the World Cup of ODIs first IPL match.

---

IPL 2023’s Fastest Fifty

In 20 balls, Shardul Thakur scored fifty. He struck two straight sixes in Michael Bracewell’s over, and in the 17th over, he reached fifty. This IPL season’s joint fastest fifty comes from this group. He was on par with Rajasthan Royals’ Jos Buttler. Butler beat Hyderabad by reaching the halfway point in 20 balls.

5 wickets were taken by Naren-Varun

Bangalore got off to a quick start in their pursuit of the 205 run target thanks to Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis. 42 runs were added by both in 4 overs. Then Sunil Narine bowled Kohli in the fifth over. Varun Chakraborty bowled Du Plessis in the sixth over.

After the seventh over, which saw no wickets fall, Varun bowled Glenn Maxwell and Harshal Patel in the eighth over. In the ninth over, Shahbaz Ahmed was caught by Naren. RCB lost 5 wickets in this manner within 17 runs.

Suyash took three wickets to end the innings.

Leg-spinner Suyyash Sharma was brought in as a key player by Kolkata in place of Venkatesh Iyer. The first over of his spell was ordinary, but in the second over, he sent Dinesh Karthik and Anuj Rawat to the pavilion. After that, Karn Sharma was caught out in the third over as well.

Both teams received one change each.

Faf du Plessis, the captain of Bengaluru, substituted David Willey for Injord Reece Topley. Kolkata, on the other hand, added Suyash Sharma to the team in place of Anukul Roy. In the second inning, he entered the game to bowl.