Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) fast-bowling all-rounder Harshit Rana gave Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) opener Mayank Agarwal an aggressive send-off at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on March 23. Agarwal did not utter a word as he walked past Rana but gave him a death stare.
In the run chase, Agarwal hit Rana for a six over deep backward point in the fourth over. He hit a slower delivery for a boundary to end the over. In his next over, Agarwal was beaten by Rana's pace. On the following delivery, he pulled it towards backward square leg and was caught by Rinku Singh.
The exchange between the two has gone viral on social media –
Agarwal, Sharma’s dazzling start
Agarwal helped SRH get off to an electrifying start in the powerplay overs. He hit the most expensive Indian Premier League (IPL) player Mitchell Starc for a boundary in the first over. He hit another boundary off Starc's next over as the left-arm pacer conceded 22 runs in his first spell.
Impact player Abhishek Sharma joined him in the onslaught and hit a four and two sixes off Varun Chakravarthy's first over. He lost his wicket off the third ball of the sixth over. They shared a 60-run opening partnership with Abhishek. He departed after scoring 32 runs from 21 deliveries.
Abhishek could not convert his start into a big score. He was undone by a short ball from Andre Russell in the eighth over. The left-handed batter scored 32 runs from 19 balls including four fours and a couple of sixes.
Salt, Russell lead KKR to threatening total
Earlier, KKR posted a big total of 208/7 on the board. After losing four wickets for 51 runs, Phil Salt's half-century, cameos from Ramandeep Singh and Rinku followed by an unbeaten 25-ball 64 from Russell helped the hosts post a fighting total.
“Funny how this game works, really happy to be with such an amazing franchise and hope we get our first points tonight. It was slightly sticky with the new ball, and when the ball becomes old it becomes slightly easier. Back (of a length) and top of the stumps is quite tricky, and hope our seamers can do something similar. I am just happy that I am going there and delivering for the team under pressure with such a huge crowd here,” Salt told the broadcasters during the innings break.
MORE ON SPORTS TAK:
