Magazine : 
IPL 2023: Shardul, Gurbaz, Rinku propel KKR to 204/7 against RCB
Shardul Thakur slammed the joint-fastest fifty of the IPL 2023 season while Rahmanullah Gurbaz hit a stroke-filled half-century and Rinku Singh chipped in with a vital 46 to propel Kolkata Knight Riders to 204/7 against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Eden Gardens. At 89/5 in 11.3 overs, Thakur walked in to face the hat-trick ball and nearly got out first ball as the inside edge went past leg-stump. But from there, he produced some sensational hitting to make 68 off 28 balls, including reaching his fifty in 20 balls.
He also shared an important 103-run partnership off just 47 balls with Rinku, who struggled initially but opened up later to hit 46 off 33 balls. The duo's efforts in a scintillating turnaround meant Kolkata fetched a whopping 110 runs in the last eight overs.
Before the duo, Gurbaz dazzled in his 44-ball 57, though Bangalore fought back through David Willey and Karn Sharma. Gurbaz began by feasting on poor deliveries from Mohammed Siraj. Whenever the pacer gave width or bowled short, Gurbaz was quick in cutting him through backward point, point and short third man for boundaries.
But from the other end, Willey rocked Kolkata with a double maiden in the fourth over. The left-arm pacer castled Venkatesh Iyer through the gate with a short delivery angled in from around the wicket. On the very next ball, he got a length ball to nip away to beat the outside edge of Mandeep Singh and crash into off-stump.
There was no stopping Gurbaz though -- pulling Akash Deep over short fine leg for six, followed by whacking Willey over the same region for four. After Nitish Rana gloved a reverse sweep to wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik off Michael Bracewell, Gurbaz attacked him and Shahbaz Ahmed with his fierce sweeps, last of which went for six, to bring up his fifty.
Karn then led Bangalore's fightback with back-to-back strikes in the 12th over -- Gurbaz reverse-swept to short third man while Andre Russell holed out to long-off for a golden duck. Thakur provided much-needed momentum to Kolkata's innings hitting two fours and six off Akash, before sweeping off Karn. He used his feet very well in slamming Bracewell for a brace of sixes over mid-wicket fence, before flat-batting off Willey for a boundary. Thakur brought up his maiden IPL fifty in 20 balls with a fierce pull in the gap between long-on and deep mid-wicket off Harshal Patel.
RCB's death bowling woes came up to the fore yet again as full tosses, including one above the waist and half-volleys were being dispatched by Thakur and Rinku for boundaries. Though Rinku gloved a bouncer from Harshal at the end of 19th over and Thakur pulled to mid-wicket off Siraj in the final over, Umesh Yadav hit a four through mid-off to ensure Kolkata crossed 200-mark.
Brief Scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 204/7 in 20 overs (Shardul Thakur 68, Rahmanullah Gurbaz 57; David Willey 2/16, Karn Sharma 2/26) against Royal Challengers Bangalore
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