Kolkata Knight Riders coast to IPL win after Royal Challengers Bangalore collapse

India all-rounder Shardul Thakur hits blistering 68 before spinner Varun Chakravarthy takes 4-15 to seal 81-run victory

Kolkata Knight Riders' Shardul Thakur cracked a 29-ball 69 against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL match at Eden Gardens on April 6, 2023. AFP

Kolkata Knight Riders coasted to their first victory of the Indian Premier League season after thrashing Royal Challengers Bangalore by 81 runs on Thursday.

A blistering 29-ball 69 from India all-rounder Shardul Thakur – along with vital contributions from Rahmanullah Gurbaz (57) and Rinku Singh (46) – helped Kolkata post an imposing 204-7 at Eden Gardens.

In reply, Bangalore started well with openers Virat Kohli (21) and captain Faf du Plessis (23) putting on 44 for the first wicket before the Indian and South African batters both fell in the space of three balls and the team quickly collapsed to 61-5.

The wickets continued to fall steadily as Bangalore – who defeated Mumbai Indians by eight wickets in their opening match – were bowled out for 123 in 17.4 overs, with spinners Varun Chakravarthy and Suyash Sharma claiming 4-15 and 3-30, respectively.

It was a comprehensive victory for Kolkata, who lost to Punjab Kings by seven runs via Duckworth-Lewis method in a rain-hit match last time out.

“If you look at the last match, there were positives; we were in the game even after seven down,” said Kolkata captain Nitish Rana. “Even today, we collapsed, and credit to Gurbaz. And it was an unbelievable innings from Shardul Thakur. People will talk about Shardul, but Rinku held one end up, as we had planned.

“Suyash, playing his first match, bowled brilliant balls to such batters. Not even we have got to know him so far. He backs himself. It was always our plan to add him if we needed a third spinner.”

It was the knock from Shardul, who came in with the team struggling at 89-5, that turned the game on its head. “Even I don't know where it came from,” said the player of the match. “Looking at the scorecard, everyone would have said we were struggling, but your subconscious mind takes over.

“You also have to have skills to do that at the higher level. The coaching staff do the throwdowns, and give us the option of range-hitting. And you know the pitches; they always suit the batsmen, don't they?”