‘Hamesha ka hai ye, kuch naya bol bhai’ – Fans react as Kolkata Knight Riders defeat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 81 runs in IPL 2023

After losing the first match by seven runs, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) locked horns against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Eden Gardens, in Kolkata. The Knight Riders won the match by 81 runs and star India all-rounder Shardul Thakur was awarded the Player of the Match award as he contributed from both bat and ball. He took a brilliant catch as well in the start to dismiss Michael Bracewell.

If we talk about the fixture, RCB skipper Faf Du Plessis won the toss and elected to bowl first. Batting first, KKR  scored 204 runs for the loss of seven wickets after the completion of the first innings. The highest scorer for them was Shardul, who scored 68 runs in just 29 balls which included nine fours and three sixes.  Afghanistan wicketkeeper batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored 57 runs from 44 balls with six four and three sixes.

For the Bangalore franchise, two wickets each were taken by David Willey and Karn Sharma in their respective spells where one side Willey conceded 16 runs on the other hand Karn conceded 26 runs. One wicket each was grabbed by Mohammad Siraj, Bracewell, and Harshal Patel.

I don’t even know where it came from: Shardul Thakur

Chasing a mammoth total of 205 runs, Bangalore was bundled out for 123 runs in the 18th over. This time as well the highest scorer for them was their openers Du Plessis and Virat Kohli. The South African batter scored 23 runs whereas the former India skipper scored 21 runs. The star batters like Glenn Maxwell and many others failed to contribute.

The highest wicket-taker for the home side was Varun Chakravarthy with four wickets where he conceded only 15 runs in the 3.4 overs he bowled. Three wickets were snapped by debutant Suyash Sharma who came as an Impact Player. Two wickets were bagged by Sunil Narine and 1 was taken by Thakur.

“I don’t even know where it came from but looking at the scorecard at that time, everyone would have thought we are struggling. But your subconscious mind takes over. You also have to have skills to do that at a higher level, but we also work hard in the nets. There is a period where we can slog it in the nets. The coaching staff do the throwdowns and give us the option of range-hitting. And you know the pitches – they always suit the batsmen, don’t they? Suyash bowled exceptionally well, and we know the quality Sunil and Varun have. They have fun, take wickets. This was a perfect day,” Thakur was quoted as saying at the post-match presentation.

Here’s how fans reacted to KKR’s victory:

https://twitter.com/Ayush90638218/status/1644032490858848261

pic.twitter.com/5YYzF1jlf8

— RAJ (@RajFan01) April 6, 2023

pic.twitter.com/fkdVPbhpbL

— Jaydrath (@jaydrathkharadi) April 6, 2023

pic.twitter.com/qabrFgv8wT

— Vivek Sharma (@IMViiku) April 6, 2023

https://twitter.com/ictfannn/status/1644032724100063234

https://twitter.com/Rebelisaam/status/1644034014423154688

Always with team
Will support no matter a win or a lose
A true fan
❤️

— Ashish. (@____ashish_m) April 6, 2023

https://twitter.com/rohit_0718/status/1644032659885277185

https://twitter.com/Vinod96s/status/1644032589798457344

https://twitter.com/aryaSupremacyRI/status/1644033325118689280