Along the coast of Visakhapatnam, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) constructed a mountain of a score – 272 for seven – against the Delhi Capitals (DC). It is the second-highest team score in TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) history, going past Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s 263 from the 2013 edition. This helped KKR record their third victory in as many matches in the 2024 season. 

The KKR batting truly entertained the crowd with some exhilarating batting. A week ago, in a city not too far from Visakhapatnam, Hyderabad witnessed its home side smash its way to 277 – the highest score in Tata IPL history. As the slog overs approached, KKR threatened to rewrite the record books but fell short as Ishant Sharma bowled a good last over. 

YORKED! 🎯

Ishant Sharma with a beaut of a delivery to dismiss the dangerous Russell!

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When one looks at the final score, it is scarcely believable that Sunil Narine, the top-scorer, opened his account off his sixth delivery – with a gentle single to third man in the second over. In many ways, it was the lull before the storm. He warmed up with a four off Khaleel Ahmed in the third over by cutting it over point. At the other end, Phil Salt seemed to be in a more aggressive mood, racing away to 18. 

The carnage truly began in the fourth over when Narine picked 26 off Ishant’s bowling. If it was short, Narine was ready with his horizontal bat shots. If it was full, he would clear the infield. It seemed as if anything thrown at him was going to disappear towards the boundaries. DC missed out on a chance to cut Narine’s innings short. During Ishant’s over, Narine had edged a short one to the wicketkeeper and it wasn’t given out. However, DC asked for the review after the stipulated time ran out.

Anrich Nortje broke through in the next over when he had Phil Salt caught with the second already at 60. DC may have felt that they could apply the breaks, but in came Angkrish Raghuvanshi – batting for the first time in an IPL match. 

The youngster was undaunted by the big stage and pulled his first ball for a four over fine-leg. Off the next ball, he caressed it through the off-side for another boundary. The partnership was one of great contrast. At one end, there was a veteran, while there was a tyro at the other looking to make a mark. It was a right-left combination, with Narine putting on a display of modern T20 batting full of ruthlessness while Raghuvanshi impressed with his proper technique and touch play. Raghuvanshi did show some innovation, as seen during a reverse scoop for six off Rasikh Salam in the 11th over. 

Sunil Narine at it again 🔥🔥@KKRiders are off to some start in Vizag!

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The partnership of 104 only took 48 balls and brought great joy to the fans at the stadium. Narine got to his fifty off only 21 balls, as KKR finished on 88 for one at the end of the powerplay. Narine went past his highest Tata IPL score and continued to carnage even after the powerplay. A six off Anrich Nortje in the 12th over got him past his best overall T20 score. However, he was dismissed for 85 by Mitchell Marsh when he edged one to Pant. That brought Andre Russell to the middle. 

Innovative!

Maiden IPL Fifty for Angkrish Raghuvanshi ✨

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Soon after, Raghuvanshi brought up his fifty off only 25 balls – a great start to his IPL career. He looked set for more, but on 54, he upper cut Nortje straight to third-man. Powered by Russell, KKR blazed past 200 in the 16th over as the crowd started entertaining the possibility of a record team score. 

KKR’s carnage continued, and Rinku Singh’s blitz (26 off eight balls) only piled on the pressure for DC. Along with Russell’s (41 off 19) entertaining knock, these contributions formed the icing on the cake after the Narine-Raghuvanshi partnership. It was a forgettable day for DC’s bowlers, with the only highlight being Ishant’s searing yorker that castled Russell in the last over. 

DC’s reply was shaky to begin with as they lost four wickets in the powerplay. There was intent but the pressure of the big score was evidently humongous. Vaibhav Arora, brought in as the Impact Player, dismissed Prithvi Shaw and Abishek Porel (Impact Player for DC). At the other end, Mitchell Starc got rid of his countrymen Mitchell Marsh and David Warner to reduce DC to 33 for four. 

Rishabh Pant and Tristan Stubbs then scripted a fighting partnership. Pant, in particular, was aggressive from the beginning. DC were behind the required rate, but the big hits kept coming. Pant brought up his fifty in the 12th over, off only 23 balls. That over, bowled by Venkatesh Iyer, went for 28 as Pant unleashed his range of shots all around the ground. Interestingly, it was the most expensive over of the match. Pant’s fight ended when he tried to loft Varun Chakaravarthy over long-on, but top-edged it to cover. Axar tried to smash his first ball over long-on but skied it. Manish Pandey ran in from long-on and took a good catch diving forward. 

Varun Chakaravarthy gets ✌️ in ✌️

Excellent fielding on display 👏👏

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Stubbs continued to fight, moving to his fifty off 28 balls – a knock that featured some eye-catching shots. Just as it happened with Pant, Stubbs too fell soon after his half-century. For DC, the task was too big and once Stubbs and Pant were dismissed, KKR sealed the deal comfortably by 106 runs. Arora was the pick of the bowlers – the impact player making a true impact – with a spell of three for 27 on a batting beauty. Starc (two for 25) and Chakaravarthy (three for 33) also contributed alongside Narine, who capped his batting brilliance with a spell of one for 29.