Kolkata Knight Riders had a night to remember on Thursday as they registered a comfortable 81-run victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore in their IPL 2023 match. Asked to bat first, KKR were 89/5 when Shardul Thakur (68) and Rinku Singh (46) stitched a long partnership and took their side to a total of 204/7 in 20 overs. Later, RCB were bundled out for 123 after Varun Chakaravarthy took a four-wicket haul. Apart from him, a big contribution in KKR’s victory was made by debutant Suyash Sharma, who scalped three wickets and broke the backbone of RCB’s batting line-up. As the match between the two teams ended, all the fans were eager to know about the 19-year-old spinner of KKR.

Suyash Sharma, a Delhi lad, was acquired by KKR for Rs 20 Lakh during the mini auction in December last year. Notably, the spinner was not named in the playing XI against RCB and was called-in as the impact player after replacing Venkatesh Iyer.

Suyash plays for the U-25 team of Delhi and interestingly hasn’t played any List A, FC, or T20 matches before today’s game.

Speaking about Suyash after the match, KKR skipper Nitish Rana said, “Suyash is a confident young man and he has belief in himself. He made his chance count and it was great to see him bowl that way.”

On the other hand, KKR coach Chandrakant Pandit said, “Varun bowled extremely well, even Sunny. And the newcomer provided support. We saw him in trial matches and were extremely happy with the way he bowled. He’s quick through the air, difficult to pick. He’s inexperienced but shows a very good attitude.”

Coming to the match, Shardul Thakur smashed a counter-attacking half-century before the spinners played their part to perfection as Kolkata Knight Riders made a memorable homecoming with an 81-run win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL at Eden Gardens on Thursday.

KKR found themselves tottering for 89/5 before Thakur led a superb recovery with his 29-ball 68 to power his team to 204/7 after RCB opted to bowl.

Coming in at No 7, Thakur hammered the joint-fastest fifty of the season off 20 balls and shared an entertaining 103-run wicket partnership off 47 balls with Rinku Singh (46 off 33).

In reply, RCB failed to last the distance and folded up for 123 in 17.4 overs with the trio of Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine and debutant Suyash Sharma sharing eight wickets between themselves.

It was KKR’s first win of the season. Thakur also took one wicket in his all-round show in KKR’s first home match after almost four years.

(With PTI Inputs)