Twitter Reactions: Shardul Thakur's blitzkrieg and spinners' brilliance help KKR thump RCB by 81 runs

Thakur smashed 68 off 29 to help KKR post 204 runs on the board.

Published - 06 Apr 2023, 23:25 IST | Updated - 06 Apr 2023, 22:54 IST

24 Min Read

Indian Premier League season 16 has been nothing short of entertaining for fans as the ten teams have put on some riveting cricketing action for fans to enjoy. And the action continued on Thursday, April 6 as Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore locked horns with each other at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

RCB captain Faf du Plessis won the toss and invited KKR to bat first. Kolkata’s openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Venkatesh Iyer started the innings cautiously. While Gurbaz looked in fine touch, Iyer was struggling to time the ball. Iyer's innings was ended by David Willey who destroyed his stumps in the fourth over. Willey struck again in the same over and sent Mandeep Singh back into the pavilion for a golden duck.

Captain Nitish Rana also couldn’t bail his team out of trouble as he departed after scoring just 1 off 5 balls. Gurbaz was the only batter who was looking set at the crease as he played a brilliant knock of 57 off 44 balls. However, RCB once again got wickets off consecutive deliveries as Gurbaz and Russell (0 off 1) were dismissed by Karn Sharma.

KKR were reeling at 89/5 after 11.3 overs when Rinku Singh and Shardul Thakur came together at the crease. Their partnership turned the game on its head as they added 103 runs off just 47 balls helping their side breach the 200-run mark. Singh scored 46 off 33 balls while Thakur scored 68 off 29 as KKR posted 204/7 in their allotted 20 overs.

Willey was the pick of the bowlers for RCB as he picked 2/16 in his four overs while Karn Sharma picked up 2/26 in his three overs.

KKR's spin trio derailed RCB's chase

In reply, RCB got off to a good start as openers Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis added 44 runs for the first wicket off just 29 balls. Sunil Narine broke the dangerous stand for KKR as he picked the prized scalp of Virat Kohli. In the sixth over Varun Chakravarthy cleaned up Du Plessis and sent him back into the pavilion.

Following their dismissals, the entire RCB batting unit fell like a house of cards as they failed to negate the spin trio of Narine, Chakravarthy, and IPL debutant Suyash Sharma. Courtesy of their incredible bowling spells RCB were bundled out for 123 handing an 81-run victory to KKR. Chakravarthy was the pick of the bowlers for Kolkata as he picked 4/15 in 3.4 overs while Suyash Sharma finished with magnificent figures of 3/30 in four overs. Sunil Narine also picked up 2/16 in his four-over spell.

Here's how Twitter reacted:

क्षत्राणी🦁@Aksharasinghhh

Vintage RCB is back #KKRvRCB (HARCB)

10:56 PM · Apr 06, 2023

Suraj Kumar@surajkumar2894

Never Forget Vintage RCB will bounce back 🔥 Always RCB RCB Fan's say Just RCB 🤗 #KKRvsRCB #RCB

10:56 PM · Apr 06, 2023

Rudra pratap singh@Rudra1268

Rcb bass dil jeet sakta hai match tho unka bass ki baat nahi #KKRvsRCB #viratkholi #IPL #venkateshiyer

10:57 PM · Apr 06, 2023

Shaan OPI@1ProudInd

There have been 3-4 #IPL seasons where #RCB was knocked out of the #Playoffs race thanks to one horrible outing which dented their NRR! #KKRvsRCB

10:57 PM · Apr 06, 2023

Cricket Ki Batein 🇮🇳@cricketkibatein

Mystery spinners is one breed that emerges well through scouting, Varun made his SMAT debut after his #IPL, #India and world cup debut. Now suyash is playing his first competitive game (Fc,list a ,t20) directly in IPL for KKR and has done very well in this game. Hoping for more.

10:57 PM · Apr 06, 2023