Xtra Time Web Desk: Andre Russell’s familiar form, Gautam Gambhir’s brain, and Shah Rukh Khan’s presence. What else could KKR wish for victory? It was these three magics that led Hyderabad to victory. Under the leadership of Gambhir, the fiery attitude seen in the Knight’s camp, it seemed like a glimpse of that same fire was seen in the first match of this season at the Eden Gardens on Saturday.
In the Twenty 20 format, captains usually opt to bat first after winning the toss, and today’s World Cup-winning Pat Cummins followed suit. However, it seemed like Eden Gardens had predetermined to gift the city residents with an early treat of the swing. Philip Salt started the innings with his aggressive batting. However, after scoring just 2 runs as he started opening, Sunil Narine had to return to the pavilion. Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas, and Nitish Rana fell quickly, putting pressure on the Knights. However, they were lifted from the dirt by Ramandeep Singh (35) and Rinku Singh (23). And towards the end, the storm named Russell erupted. Unbeaten, he played an innings of 64 runs with seven sixes and three boundaries, taking the team past the 200-run mark.
However, mood to defeat Mitchell Starc was evident in Hyderabad as well. Mayank Agarwal and Abhishek Sharma had a good start. After that, the confident innings of KL Rahul (63) put pressure on KKR in a usual manner. Taking 13 runs in the last over on the IPL stage is not a big deal. As a result, the match seemed to slip away from the Knight Riders’ grasp. However, in the final moments, Harshal Patel played a crucial role as he took the wickets of Rahul and Shahbaz in the last over, leading the team to victory.
However, despite recognizing Russell’s potential, 24 crore’s Stark did not come into the limelight this time. To maintain the winning streak, Sunil Narine, Shreyas, and others need to quickly regain their form. Now, it remains to be seen how mentor Gautam Gambhir prepares the team for the upcoming battles.
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