IPL 2018: Who Said What as KKR beat RCB by 4 wickets
The Kolkata Knight Riders got their IPL campaign off to a winning start on Sunday, beating the Royal Challengers Bangalore by 4 wickets in front of a packed Eden Gardens crowd.
Chasing 177 for a win, the hosts got to the target with seven balls to spare.
Having been put into bat by the home skipper Dinesh Karthik, the visitors reached 176 for 7 in their 20 overs thanks to the batting efforts of Brendon McCullum, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers.
Then in the final quarter of the innings, Mandeep Singh played a crucial cameo, making an 18-ball 37 to propel the side to 176.
KKR in their chase got off to the perfect start as Sunil Narine came out all guns blazing, scoring 50 off 19 balls to set the tone for the chase.
But Umesh Yadav bought RCB back into the game with twin strikes that pegged the hosts back.
However, Nitish Rana, Karthik and Andre Russell kept their side in the game with timely streaks of big overs and the two-time champions got over the line in their maiden game of the new season.
Virat Kohli, RCB captain
"I think we were 15 short with the bat. I played too many dot balls and couldn't get any momentum going. Me and AB getting out in 2 balls to a part-timer was a game-changing event. Sunil took the game away from us with the way he batted. If you are giving 13 an over in the first overs on that sort of a wicket, it's very difficult to come back. It's difficult for the spinners to bowl on this pitch, the fast bowlers get some purchase and you can score runs as well. It has become a really good cricket wicket over the last couple of years. We made a pretty good game out of it, to drag it till the 19th over and take those wickets was a big positive."
Dinesh Karthik, KKR captain
"Feels very good. Nice to get to a good start. I felt it was coming too well against the pacers. When AB and Virat were playing it was tough. We just prayed to God that he [Narine] gets going. We all play for the crowd and we love to play for this team and this fantastic crowd."
Sunil Narine, Man of the match
"It's good to get the ball rolling in the first game. The support staff and everyone giving me a chance to open the batting. Whatever role the teams wants to play, I'm happy to do it. It's a good cricket wicket, whatever you do on the field, it's gonna benefit you."
Here's how social media reacted to the win:
Ben Duckett
Harsha Bhogle
Pragyan Ojha
Boria Majumdar
Monty Panesar
Aakash Chopra
Our tournament homepage has IPL live score, Match Analysis, Detailed Stats, Fantasy Tips, Controversies, Match Predictions and much more. Bookmark it now!