Kolkata Knight Riders registered a thrilling 1-run win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata in the 36th match of the ongoing IPL 2024. Philip Salt and Shreyas Iyer smashed quick knocks and Philip Salt claimed three wickets and helped the team win.

Philip Salt starred with the bat

Royal Challengers Bengaluru won the toss and opted to bowl first. Put into bat, KKR openers got off to a flying start. Both Philip Salt and Sunil Narine maintained their good form and added 56 runs within 4.2 overs. Salt smacked a swashbuckling 48 off 14 with 7 fours and 3 sixes. But Narine couldn’t do much as he got out for a mere 10.

However, after their dismissals, middle-order couldn’t contribute much until Shreyas Iyer stepped in. He scored 50 off 36 with 7 fours and a six. Later, Ramandeep Singh also scored an unbeaten 24 off 9 with 2 fours and as many sixes.

Will Jacks scored quick fifty

While chasing, RCB had the worst possible start as their opener Faf du Plessis got out for a mere 7. Although Virat Kohli tried to score quickly with a 7-ball 18, his stay in the middle was cut short by a controversial umpiring off Harshit Rana.

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However, Will Jacks and Rajat Patidar steadied the ship in the middle and they both smashed the fifties as well. They added 102 runs before the former got out for a quickfire 55-run knock which came off 32 balls with 4 fours and 5 sixes as well. Rajat Patidar also scored a quickfire 52 off 23.

On the other hand, Dinesh Karthik also tried his best with a 25-run knock off 18 balls with 3 fours and a six. But their efforts weren’t enough as other batters failed to contribute and they eventually lost the game by a mere 1 run. Andre Russell did exceptionally well with a 3/25.

Shreyas Iyer, KKR Captain commented after the game: “(On close games like these) It takes a lot off your body and drains you out completely because you go through so many emotions. It’s tough to stay calm but I’m elated. We got two points on the board and that’s all that matters. It’s extremely tough when the pressure is on, I feel that every individual should put their hands up and take the responsibility. Russell did that by picking up two wickets and completely changed the game in our favor, that kind of attitude is needed in the team.

It’s a funny game, when you need 18 runs off 6 balls, the pressure is on the bowler. One six here and there, it completely changes the momentum. It is important that we maintain our calmness and stay in the present and make the batter hit where you want them to hit. We need to stick to our routines and processes and see to it that we execute the things we want. It was a pivotal knock, I wanted to stay till the end and steady the ship. We were losing wickets and I wanted to stay till the end and see it off. We got some important boundaries towards the end and I was very happy about that.”