Kolkata Knight Riders captain Ajinkya Rahane showered praise on his batters after a gargantuan win of 80 runs against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Thursday. This was KKR’s fifth consecutive win against the Orange Army.
KKR lost two early wickets of their openers however Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvanshi were able to stitch together a crucial partnership of 81 runs. While Rahane scored 38 runs, Raghuvanshi contributed 50 runs off 32 balls. Subsequently, Venkatesh Iyer played a majestic knock of 60 runs off just 29 balls as he batted at the top of his game.
Rinku Singh, who could not deliver in the first three matches, played a crucial cameo of 17-ball 32 as KKR smashed 78 runs in the last five overs to post a par score of 200 runs on the board.
Ajinkya Rahane said in the post-match presentation, “This game was really important for us. Winning by big margin was crucial. Even we wanted to bowl on this wicket. When we lost two early wickets, wanted to consolidate till 6 overs – play with intent but play cricketing shots. And then when we have wickets in hand, guys down the order can get as many runs as possible. Happy with the batting unit.”
He added, “Last two games were not upto the mark for us. But we learned a lot from our mistakes. This is a great example for us as a batting unit. Rinku and Venkatesh – those guys can play brilliant shots. Ramandeep was sitting in the dugout, Dre was sitting and Moeen was also ready. It was about playing normal till 15 overs and take it on. Initially, we thought 170-180 in the surface would be good.”
Adding further, Rahane showered praise on the bowling unit as Vaibhav Arora and Varun Chakravarthy scalped three wickets apiece whereas Andre Russell bagged a brace to skittle out the opposition at 120.
Rahane concluded, “Slower balls were gripping. We had three quality spinners. Moeen, unfortunately, couldn’t bowl tonight. Sunny and Varun bowled really well. Credit goes to Vaibhav and Harshit as well.”
Kolkata Knight Riders will next take on Lucknow Super Giants at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Tuesday.
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