Debutant Suyash Sharma made a significant contribution to KKR’s victory by scalping three wickets and breaking the backbone of RCB’s batting lineup.
Thursday was a memorable evening for the Kolkata Knight Riders as they defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by 81 runs in their IPL 2023 match. Shardul Thakur (68) and Rinku Singh (46) strung together a long partnership to propel KKR to a total of 204/7 in 20 overs after being asked to bat first.
RCB were dismissed for 123 runs after Varun Chakaravarthy claimed four wickets. Apart from him, debutant Suyash Sharma made a significant contribution to KKR’s victory by taking three wickets and breaking the backbone of RCB’s batting order. As the game between the two teams concluded, all the fans were anxious to learn more about KKR’s 19-year-old spinner.
KKR acquired Suyash Sharma, a native of Delhi, for Rs 20 Lakh during the mini auction in December of last year. Notably, the spinner was not named in the playing XI against RCB and was substituted for Venkatesh Iyer as an impact player.
Suyash plays for Delhi’s Under-25 team and, curiously, has never played in a List A, FC, or T20 match prior to today’s contest.
After the match, KKR captain Nitish Rana said of Suyash, “Suyash is a young man with confidence and self-belief. It was wonderful to see him bowl so well after he capitalized on his opportunity.
KKR coach Chandrakant Pandit stated, “Varun and Sunny both bowled exceptionally well. And the newcomer offered assistance. We were exceedingly pleased with his bowling performance during trial matches. He is agile in the air and difficult to catch. He lacks experience but has a very positive demeanor.”
Shardul Thakur smashed a counterattacking half-century before the spinners played their role to perfection as the Kolkata Knight Riders made a memorable homecoming with an 81-run victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL at Eden Gardens on Thursday.
After RCB elected to bowl, KKR were in a precarious position at 89/5 before Thakur led an outstanding recovery with 68 off 29 balls to propel his team to 204/7.
At No. 7, Thakur smashed the season’s second-fastest fifty off 20 deliveries and shared an entertaining 103-run wicket partnership with Rinku Singh off 47 balls. (46 off 33)
In response, RCB were dismissed for 123 in 17.4 overs, with Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine, and debutant Suyash Sharma sharing eight wickets.
It was the team’s first victory of the season. Thakur took one wicket as part of his all-around performance in KKR’s first home match in nearly four years.
