Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Co-owner Shahrukh Khan on Monday (18th April) lauded his side for the ‘stupendous’ effort despite the loss against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Match 30 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 in Mumbai.
KKR suffered their third consecutive loss of the IPL 15 season. Despite the brilliant effort, they failed to chase the target and fell short of just 7 runs. Their decision to bowl first didn’t work in their favour as fans once again witnessed Jos Buttler’s master class.
The keeper-batter continued his red-hot form and scored his second century of the season. He scored 103 runs in 61 balls and was well complemented by Devdutt Padikkal (24), Sanju Samson (38), and Shimron Hetymer (26*), who chipped in at a crucial stage to help RR post a gigantic total of 217 runs on the board. For KKR, Sunil Narine was the pick of the bowlers and returned with the figures of 2/21.
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Chasing the target, even though KKR lost Sunil Narine on the very first ball of the innings, Aaron Finch took them off the flyer. The Australian opener tonked the RR bowlers all over the park for his fiery knock of 58 runs in just 28 balls. He was well accompanied by Shreyas Iyer, who played an exceptional innings and kept his side in the hunt till he was there.
Iyer smashed 85 runs before he was trapped in LBW by Yuzvendra Chahal, who took four wickets in the 17th over including a hat-trick to turn the game towards his side. Umesh Yadav then again brought KKR back in the game with his cameo of 21 runs but failed to take his side over the line.
Taking to the official Twitter account, Shah Rukh Khan mentioned the top performers of the match and praised them for a "stupendous" effort. He congratulated Sunil Narine for his milestone and head coach Brendon McCullum for his 158 run knock in the inaugural IPL match.
“Well played boys. Stupendous effort by @ShreyasIyer15 @AaronFinch5 @y_umesh congrats to #SunilNarine for the 150th match & @Bazmccullum for that innings 15 yrs ago. I know we lost but if we have to go down this is the only way to do it! Keep ur chins up…,” Shahrukh Khan said.
KKR will next face Gujarat Titans (GT) on Saturday (23rd April) in Mumbai.
