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Watch: Shardul Thakur's spell-bounding knock vs RCB forces KKR boss Shah Rukh Khan to stand up and applaud
Shardul Thakur produced a brilliant batting performance against RCB on Thursday night, as he scored 68 off just 29 balls.
Kolkata Knight Riders' star all-rounder Shardul Thakur produced a magnificent outing in the side's second match of the 2023 Indian Premier League season against Royal Challengers Bangalore. He scored 68 off just 29 deliveries after coming at no.7. Shardul came into bat when the Knight Riders' innings was reeling at 89/5 in the 12th over of the game, with the side having lost the wickets of in-form Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Andre Russell off successive deliveries.
Shardul, however, adopted a counter-attacking approach and began an all-out attack from ball one. He scored the joint-fastest half-century in the IPL 2023 so far (in 20 balls). Shardul, who was traded from the Delhi Capitals in all-cash deal ahead of this season, throughly entertained the capacity crowd at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. His innings was laced with three sixes and eight fours. He also out on a dazzling 103-run sixth wicket partnership with Rinky Singh (46 off 33) off just 46 balls to help KKR post 204/7.
The all-rounder was eventually dismissed in the final over of the innings by Mohammed Siraj.
As Shardul left the field following the dismissal, he received a standing ovation from Bollywood actor and Knight Riders' co-owner Shah Rukh Khan, who was present at the Eden Gardens as the franchise made a return to the home venue.
Watch: Shah Rukh Khan gives a standing ovation to Shardul Thakur for his match-winning knock vs RCB in IPL 2023
Earlier, RCB captain Faf du Plessis had won the toss and opted to bowl in Kolkata. The home team faced early setbacks when Venkatesh Iyer (3) and Mandeep Singh (0) departed off successive balls against David Willey in the fourth over. Nitish Rana, too, departed right after the powerplay as Michael Bracewell dismissed him for 1. Gurbaz, however, remained undeterred at the other end and did the majority of run-scoring, eventually reaching his half-century in 39 deliveries.
Rinku Singh also played an important role for the Knight Riders as he scored 46 off 33 balls; he smashed 16 runs off Harshal Patel's penultimate over of the innings that included a four and two sixes. Thanks to the trio of Gurbaz, Rinku, and Shardul, the KKR ended their innings on a strong total of 204/7 in 20 overs.
The Knight Riders are chasing their first win of the season after the side faced a narrow 7-run loss (D/L method) in their opening match against Punjab Kings last week.
