IPL 2023: Shardul Thakur, Varun Chakaravarthy lead KKR to famous 81-run win against lacklustre RCB

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) registered their first win of the Indian Premier League (IPL) season after they beat Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by 81 runs on Thursday, April 6. The encounter played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata saw KKR back to winning ways having lost their opening encounter of the season to Punjab Kings by seven runs. Heroics from Rahmanullah Gurbaz (57), Rinku Singh (46) and Shardul Thakur (68) saw the two-time champions home having initially struggled with the bat.

RCB fall at Eden Gardens

Asked to chase a mammoth 205, RCB lost Virat Kohli (21), Faf du Plessis (23) and Michael Bracewell (19) fell early while no other batter came in handy in the run chase. RCB lost both openers in quick succession as KKR were at the top of their game. Varun Chakaravarthy scalped four wickets while Suyash Sharma bagged three wickets. Sunil Narine was also on the show as he had a brace to show as well.

KKR make remarkable recovery

Explosive half-centuries by opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz and lower-order batter Shardul Thakur and Rinku Singh's century stand for the sixth wicket with Shardul helped Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) reach a massive total of 204/7 against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Thursday.

Put to bat first by RCB, Rahmanullah Gurbaz helped KKR get off to a solid start, smashing Mohammed Siraj for three straight fours in the third over. Venkatesh Iyer on the other end, started slowly. However, David Willey, coming to the side as Reece Topley's replacement, made an immediate impact in the next over, castling Venkatesh's middle stump.

Willey was the pick of the bowlers for RCB, taking 2/16 in his four overs. Karn Sharma also took 2/26 in his three overs. Harshal, Bracewell and Siraj managed one wicket each.

The win sees KKR record their first points of the season and have gone level with RCB for the same points. KKR will next take on champions Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday, April 9 while RCB will take on Lucknow Super Giants at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangaluru.

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