The 18th edition of the IPL was at Eden Gardens yesterday, and the lung opener was an exquisite display of very competitive cricket in front of a packed stadium hosting 110,000 spectators.
The opening ceremony hosted by Sharukh Khan, the Bollywood celebrity, his stage personality was one of its kind with fantastic dance performance and a female soloist who entertained the packed stadium and millions of television viewers.
It was a great gesture to note BCCI officials being felicitated whilst India’s cricket icon Virat Kholi was presented with a special plaque for his appearance in all editions
On the park, it was business as usual after the eye-catching opening ceremony.
KKR, taking first lease of the wicket, could muster only a par score of 174 runs for 8 wickets despite the 2nd wicket partnership of 103 runs between Sunil Narine 48 runs with 5 boundaries and 3 sixes with skipper Ajinkya Rahane 56 with 6 boundaries and 4 sixes whilst the rest of the batters were undone by the left arm orthodox spin of Krunal Pandya who scalped 3 for 29 in his alloted 4 overs.
The turning point was the back to back dismissal of Sunil Narine in the 10th over followed by Ajankya Rahane in the 11th over, both undone by Krunal Pandya to begin the downslide.
The death overs were a disaster for the home based team with only 24 runs being scored in 4.1 overs, the definition ” simply not good enough.
Jos Hazelwood 2 for 22 painted a death bowling picture so deft as a stroke by famous drawing artist Pablo Piasco.
RCB with a target of 175 and the placid batting conditions were not going to miss out. They got to the target with 21 balls to spare with 7 wickets intact in a one-sided contest.
The 95 run opening stand between Virat Kholi 58 not out with 4 boundaries 3 sixes, and Phil Salt 56 with 9 boundaries and 2 sixes had its toll on the KKR bowlers.
Skipper Rajat Padikar put the finishing touches with 34 and KKR , wandered off the field, regretting their missed opportunities they squandered after the great start both Narine and Rahane stiched for them upfront.
Varun Chakravarthi 1 for 43 and his bowling partner Sunil Narine 1 for 27 could not restrict the inborn determination of Virat Kholi, who batted unbeaten to guide his franchise to victory.
Today, Sunrise Hyderabad plays Rajasthan Royals .
Eshan Malinga Sri Lankan seamer is in the squad for Sunrise Hyderabad whilst Rajasthan Royals has Wanindu Hasaranga in their squad. Pertinent question: Will they be in the playing eleven?
