The moment Kolkata Knight Riders got the wicket of Dinesh Karthik, it was almost a done deal for them at Eden Gardens in match 36 of Tata IPL 2024. But Karn Sharma’s astonishing assault on Mitchell Starc in the last over provided a glimmer of hope for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. However, despite Karn’s heroics, the Kolkata Knight Riders maintained their calm to secure a nervy one-run victory off the final ball. Many were hoping for a super over but that never came.

Facing a daunting target of 223 runs set by the Knight Riders, the Royal Challengers needed 21 runs off the last over delivered by left-arm pacer Starc. Although the situation seemed bleak with Karn and Mohammed Siraj at the crease, Karn, an unlikely hero with the bat, almost engineered a miraculous comeback.

With three sixes off Starc’s bowling, Karn narrowed the margin to three runs off just two balls. Yet, Starc managed to redeem himself by taking a return catch to dismiss Karn, who departed after a whirlwind knock of 20 runs off just 7 balls, including three sixes. With Lockie Ferguson being run out off the final delivery, RCB concluded their innings at 222 all out in 20 overs.

Earlier in the day, RCB had won the toss and invited KKR to bat first. Phil Salt’s smashing start, Shreyas Iyer’s mid-overs momentum and Ramandeep Singh’s death overs cameo helped the home side in posting a good total of 222 runs on the board. One of the most talked about moment in the match was the dismissal of Virat Kohli. While the RCB opener was seen walking off angrily, many people took to social media to voice out their opinions on this controversial dismissal. Navjot Singh Siddhu straight away said that Kohli was not out. With this win, KKR have dislodged SRH to be on the second spot in the IPL points table. RCB, on the other hand, remain at the bottom of the IPL 17 rankings.

Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru scorecard

RCB innings:

  • Virat Kohli c & b Harshit 18
  • Faf du Plessis (c) c Venkatesh b Chakravarthy 7
  • Will Jacks c Raghuvanshi b Russell 55
  • Rajat Patidar c Harshit b Russell 52
  • Cameron Green c Ramandeep b Narine 6
  • Suyash Prabhudessai c Raghuvanshi b Harshit 24
  • Mahipal Lomror c & b Narine 4
  • Dinesh Karthik c Salt b Russell 25
  • Karn Sharma c & b Starc 20
  • Mohammed Siraj not out 0
  • Lockie Ferguson run out 1
  • Extras: (B-1, LB-4, W-4) 9
  • Total: (All out in 20 overs) 221
  • Fall of wickets: 1-27, 2-35, 3-137, 4-138, 5-151, 6-155, 7-187, 8-202, 9-220, 10-221.
  • Bowling: Harshit Rana 4-0-33-2, Mitchell Starc 3-0-55-1, Varun Chakravarthy 4-0-36-1, Sunil Narine 4-0-34-2, Suyash Sharma 2-0-33-0, Andre Russell 3-0-25-3.

KKR innings:

  • Phil Salt c Patidar b Siraj 48
  • Sunil Narine c Kohli b Dayal 10
  • Angkrish Raghuvanshi c Green b Dayal 3
  • Venkatesh Iyer c Lomror b Green 16
  • Shreyas Iyer (c) c du Plessis b Green 50
  • Rinku Singh c Dayal b Ferguson 24
  • Andre Russell not out 27
  • Ramandeep Singh not out 24
  • Extras: (B-4, LB-7, NB-2, W-7) 20
  • Total: (For 6 wickets in 20 overs) 222
  • Fall of wickets: 1-56, 2-66, 3-75, 4-97, 5-137, 6-179.
  • Bowling: Mohammed Siraj 4-0-40-1, Yash Dayal 4-0-56-2, Lockie Ferguson 4-0-47-1, Karn Sharma 4-0-33-0, Cameron Green 4-0-35-2.

(With PTI inputs)