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Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) all-rounder Andre Russell’s sensational all-round display was almost overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen’s explosive knock but young pacer Harshit Rana held his nerves to guide the hosts to a four-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Rana bowled an excellent last over to help KKR start their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 campaign with a win.
KKR lose early wickets
Earlier, SRH skipper Pat Cummins won the toss and opted to bowl first. Bhuvneshwar Kumar started with an economical over. KKR's last-minute recruit Phil Salt made a statement by smashing Marco Jansen for three consecutive sixes. The decision to send Sunil Narine to open didn't work as he was run out in the second over. In T Natarajan's first over, Venkatesh Iyer handed an easy catch to cover fielder Jansen. Then KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer departed for a two-ball duck. After powerplay overs, KKR were 43/3.
Salt’s fifty on KKR debut
Jansen returned to bowl the seventh over. Nitish Rana's catch was dropped by Abdul Samad. Cummins introduced Mayank Markande who delivered with Rana's wicket as KKR's former skipper attempted a reverse sweep. Ramandeep Singh joined Salt in the middle and pushed the scoring rate. He hit Cummins for a six. He took on Markande as well and smashed a massive six. He gave the same treatment to Jansen as well. Shahbaz Ahmed started with a no-ball which was hit for a six by Ramandeep. Cummins returned and provided a breakthrough with Ramandeep's wicket. He scored 35 runs from 17 balls. Salt reached his half-century from 38 balls. In the same over, he lost his wicket to Markande in an attempt to clear the boundary. He scored 54 runs from 40 balls.
Russell smashes sixes for fun
Russell smashed Markande for three sixes in his last over. Bhuvneshwar returned and was hit for a six and four by Russell. Rinku Singh ended the over with a boundary. Natarajan could not stop Russell's bat either and conceded 15 runs. In the penultimate over, Bhuvneshwar started with a no-ball that went for a boundary. Russell smashed a six to reach his half-century from 20 balls. He smashed another six in the 26-run over. In the final over, Natarajan dismissed Rinku. He scored 23 runs from 15 balls. Starc got off the mark with a boundary. Natarajan finished well but Russell's unbeaten 25-ball 64 featuring seven sixes took KKR's total to 208/7.
Openers’ perfect start
Mayank Agarwal got SRH off to a good start as Starc conceded 12 runs from his first over. In his next over, he was hit for one boundary each by Agarwal and impact player Abhishek Sharma. Agarwal and Sharma hit boundaries to take SRH's score to 58 after five overs. Rana broke the partnership in his third over with the new ball. He got rid of Agarwal with a short ball and gave him a flying kiss send-off. Agarwal scored 32 runs from 21 balls including four fours and a six.
Russell strikes twice
After contributing with the bat, Russell dismissed Abhishek. The opener scored 32 runs from 19 balls including four fours and a couple of sixes. Rahul Tripathi and Markram were building a partnership when the South African lost his wicket to Chakaravarthy. He scored 18 runs from 13 balls. In the next over, Tripathi was dismissed by Narine. He scored 20 runs from 20 balls. Narine finished his spell without conceding a single boundary. Seeing the required run rate go up, Klaasen smashed Chakaravarthy for two sixes in the 15th over. Samad targetted Russell and hit him for a six and a four. But Russell got rid of him with a full toss. Samad scored 15 runs from 11 balls.
Klaasen’s ballistic knock in vain
Shahbaz walked out to bat and got off the mark with a boundary first ball. In Chakaravarthy's next over, Klaasen smashed a couple of sixes. Shahbaz joined in and hit a massive six as well. The penultimate over was given to Starc. He wasn't spared by Klaasen as he hit three sixes to complete his half-century from 25 balls. On the last ball, Ahmed smashed him for a maximum as well. Starc conceded 53 runs and remained wicketless. In the final over, Klaasen hit a six. He took off a single next ball. Shahbaz went for the big shot but got caught by Iyer at long-on. Jansen managed to get a single on the fourth ball. SRH needed five runs from two balls and Klaasen miscued a shot to Suyash who took a brilliant catch at short third man. Klaasen departed for 63 off 29 balls including eight sixes. On the last ball, Cummins failed to get bat on the ball as KKR won the game by four runs.
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