KKR vs RCB: Who won yesterday's match in IPL 2024?
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) by one run in yesterday's IPL 2024 match at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
In a high-scoring thriller, KKR posted 222-6 after being asked to bat first. RCB came hard in the chase, but fell agonizingly short, succumbing to their seventh defeat in eight games.
In a match that saw numerous ebbs and flows right till the end, Bengaluru went into the last over needing 21 for a win with only two wickets in hand. Karn Sharma (20 off 7) played a stunning cameo, tonking Mitchell Starc for three sixes in the first four balls.
The bowler had his revenge when he took a terrific return catch in his follow-through to send back Karn off the penultimate delivery. With two needed off the last ball, Lockie Ferguson (1) was run out attempting a non-existent second courtesy of a brilliant piece of agility from KKR keeper Phil Salt, making up for a poor throw.
Earlier in the chase, there was a big controversy as Virat Kohli (18) was adjudged caught and bowled to Harshit Rana off a high full toss. While Kohli fended the ball at an awkward length, he was declared out by the third umpire, as he was batting outside his crease. RCB skipper Faf du Plessis (7) perished to a stunning catch at mid-on off Varun Chakravarthy.
Will Jacks clobbered Starc for three sixes and a four in the last over of the powerplay as RCB reached 74-2 after six overs. Rajat Patidar then went after Suyash Sharma as another over produced 22 runs. At the halfway stage of their innings, Bengaluru were reasonably placed at 122-2.
Andre Russell, though, dismissed both set batters in the 12th over to put KKR ahead in the contest.
Jacks (55 off 32) was caught at long-on, while Patidar (52 off 23) top-edged a full ball to backward point. Two more wickets followed in the next over bowled by Sunil Narine as Cameron Green (6) dragged one to midwicket, while Mahipal Lomror (4) chipped a simple return catch to the bowler.
Dinesh Karthik (25 off 18) and Karn kept the fight alive for Bengaluru. Eventually, though, it was a case of so near yet so far.
Shreyas, Salt shine for KKR with the bat
Sent into bat, Salt got Kolkata off to a terrific start, smacking 48 runs in 14 balls. He clobbered Ferguson for 28 runs in the fourth over, whacking two sixes and four fours. Salt perished in the next over, flicking a length ball from Mohammed Siraj to deep midwicket.
RCB fought back following Salt's assault. Narine (10) sliced a catch to long-on off Yash Dayal. Angkrish Raghuvanshi (3) fell in the same over to a stunning one-handed catch by Green. When Venkatesh Iyer (16) top-edged a short ball from Green to deep square leg, KKR had slipped to 97-4 in the ninth over.
Shreyas Iyer (50 off 36), though, held the innings together with a fine half-century. He was aided by handy contributions from Rinku Singh (24 off 16) and Russell (27* off 20), while Ramandeep Singh (24* off 9) put the finishing touches with a splendid cameo.
KKR vs RCB: Who won Player of the Match in yesterday's IPL 2024 match?
Salt got KKR off to a brilliant start, smashing 48 in 14. Skipper Shreyas chipped in with a fine fifty. Russell contributed a good cameo before claiming three big wickets.
For RCB, Green registered figures of 2-35 and took a stunning catch. In the chase, Jacks and Patidar gave the side hope with scintillating half-centuries. Russell, though, was named the Player of the Match for his stellar all-round effort.