Kolkata Knight Riders registered a thrilling win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in their opening match of the IPL 2024 campaign on Saturday. Despite posting a strong total of 208/7, KKR faced a big scare as Heinrich Klaasen (63 off 29 balls) launched an aggressive in the final few overs of the run-chase. However, Harshit Rana held his nerves to deny Sunrisers the win, dismissing the dangerous South African in the final over.
Earlier in the game, Andre Russell produced a scintillating knock after the Knight Riders endured a middle-order collapse; arriving in the 13th over of the innings with the side’s total at 105/5, Russell took on the SRH attack, smashing three fours and seven sixes, ending his innings at an unbeaten 64 off just 25 balls.
In the previous season, Russell’s performance for KKR left much to be desired, with just 222 runs in 14 matches raising questions about his retention by the franchise. However, in the season opener, Russell silenced his critics with a spectacular display against the SRH bowling attack; however, Gavaskar cautioned against drawing premature conclusions based on just one game.
“Let’s not go ahead of ourselves. He batted well, and it’s got nothing to do with anyone coming into there (KKR). If he doesn’t do well in the next few innings, will you blame Gautam Gambhir? Let’s take it a little bit easy,” Gavaskar told Star Sports.
“When you saw someone like Bhuveneshwar Kumar, who was practising his yorkers so well on the practise pitches, bowled leg-deliveries (in the match) which was everything in the arc for Andre Russell… When somebody like Russell is hitting the ball into the stands, nobody can stop him,” Gavaskar said further.
Gambhir joined KKR ahead of the 2024 edition, making a return to the franchise for the first time since 2017, when he left the side as a player. The former opener is the only KKR captain to have won the IPL title; he did so twice, in 2012 and 2014.
KKR travel to Bengaluru
The side will now travel to Bengaluru as it takes on the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in its second match of the season on March 29. The RCB faced an opening day defeat at the hands of defending champions Chennai Super Kings on March 22.
