Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have been dealt with a major blow after their clash against Delhi Capitals (DC) at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on April 29. KKR's in-form pacer Harshit Rana has been fined 100 per cent of his match fees for breaching the Indian Premier League (IPL) Conde of Conduct during clash. In addition, he has faced a one-match ban from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as well.
Rana won't feature in KKR's next match against Mumbai Indians (MI) at Wankhede Stadium on May 3. He committed a Level 1 offence under Article 2.5 of the IPL's Code of Conduct. The 22-year-old admitted to the offence and accepted the Match Referee's sanction.
Rana gave an aggressive send-off to DC's Abhishek Porel. After rattling the stumps, he gestured with his finger to go back to the dugout. Earlier, he was fined 60 per cent of his match fee for a flying kiss send-off to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) opener Mayank Agarwal.
Rana's strikes against DC
Rana was impressive against Rishabh Pant-led DC. He got the wickets of Porel and tailender Rasikh Salam. He conceded 28 runs from his quota of four overs. However, he was below-par in the fielding department. Kuldeep Yadav hit the first six of his IPL career as the ball bounced off Rana's hand and went over the boundary.
KKR win big
Rana helped KKR restrict DC to 153/9 after Pant opted to bat first. KKR chased down the target in 16.3 overs with seven wickets in hand as Phil Salt scored 68 runs from 33 balls. The win helped KKR stay at the second spot with six wins from nine games and a net run rate (NRR) better than any other team in the league.
Rana's form in IPL 2024
The young pacer who was picked for his base price of Rs 20 lakh has taken 11 wickets from eight appearances already. However, his economy rate of 9.79 runs per over is on the higher side.
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