KKR vs RCB Highlights, IPL 2023: Shardul Thakur, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Varun Chakaravarthy Star As KKR Thrash RCB By 81 Runs

Kolkata Knight Riders (204/7) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore (123 all out) by 81 runs. Shardul Thakur and Rahmanullah Gurbaz smashed 68 and 57 runs respectively while Rinku Singh contributed with 46 runs. Later, Varun Chakaravarthy scalped four wickets while debutant Suyash Sharma and Sunil Narine took three and two wickets respectively. 

OUT!!! Debutant Suyash Sharma is on fire today as he takes his third wicket and this time Karn Sharma becomes his prey. The ball hits the edge of the bat and travels towards Nitish Rana, who then takes a brilliant catch. RCB go nine down and KKR move closer towards their first win of IPL 2023. 

OUT!!! Debutant Suyash Sharma strikes again in the same over and removes Dinesh Karthik for 9. Karthiks takes shot towards the short third man but Varun Chakaravarthy takes a brilliant catch. What a memorable debut for the youngster as RCB lose their eighth wicket in the chase. 

OUT!!! Debutant Suyash Sharma joins the party and scalps the wicket of Anuj Rawat for 1. Rawat mistimes his slog sweep shot as Sunil Narine takes a brilliant catch at the third man. First IPL wicket for Suyash and seventh wicket gone for RCB in the chase.

OUT!!! Shardul Thakur is on fire today as after playing a brilliant knock, he now scalps a wicket and Michael Bracewell becomes his prey. Bracewell goes for a hook shot towards the short fine leg but Nitish Rana makes a fantastic dive and takes a catch. Bracewell departs for 19 as RCB lose their sixth wicket. 

OUT!!! Sunil Narine strikes again and removes Shahbaz Ahmed for 1. Shahbaz tries to go for a big hit but ends up giving a simple catch to Shardul Thakur at the deep backward point. RCB in deep trouble as they lose their fifth wicket in the chase. 

OUT!!! Varun Chakaravarthy is on fire as removes Glenn Maxwell and Harshal Patel in the same over as RCB lose their fourth wicket in the chase. Maxwell tries to hammer it across the line but the ball turns in, beats the inside edge, and crashes into the off-stump. Harshal gets an inside edge that crashes into the stumps. Third wicket of the night from Chakaravarthy.

OUT!!! Varun Chakaravarthy provides KKR with another major breakthrough as he removes Faf du Plessis for 23. Just like Kohli, Faf also misjudges the length of the delivery as the ball rattles up up the middle stump. Brilliant comeback from KKR as RCB lose their openers in chase. 

OUT!! Kolkata Knight Riders get their first breakthrough of the night as Sunil Narine removes Virat Kohli for 21. Kohli completely fails to judge the delivery as the ball dislodges the bail on the top of the off stump. Finally a relief for KKR as RCB lose their first wicket. 

After Tim Southee delivered an economical over, Umesh Yadav concedes 7 runs in his previous over. Faf du Plessis finally opens his arms in the over and slams a boundary off Umesh Yadav. 

Royal Challengers Bangalore have started the proceedings at a brilliant note as they strongly proceed towards the target. In the first over, Virat Kohli slams two boundaries and snatch 10 runs from Umesh Yadav. 

Hello and welcome back to the second innings of the IPL 2023 match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore. RCB are chasing 205 with Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis opening the batting attack. Umesh Yadav bowls the first over for KKR. 

Kolkata Knight Riders finish their innings at 204/7 in 20 overs. Shardul Thakur smash 68 off 29 balls while Rahmanullah Gurbaz score 57 off 44 balls. Apart from them, Rinku Singh also plays a knock of 46 off 33 balls. For RCB, David Willey and Karn Sharma scalp two wickets each while Michael Bracewell, Mohammed Siraj, and Harshal Patel take one wicket each. 

Royal Challengers Bangalore are facing a tough time on the field as Shardul Thakur and Rinku Singh are strongly taking Kolkata Knight Riders to a huge total. In the previous over, Mohammed Siraj concedes 15 runs as RCB fail to scalp wickets. Earlier in the 17th over, Harshal Patel conceded 13 runs. 

Shardul Thakur comes as a last hope for Kolkata Knight Riders as he brings up his maiden IPL half-century with a boundary. He takes only 20 balls and achieves the joint fastest fifty of this season so far. KKR now eye a good total with Shardul and Rinku Singh standing strong at the crease. 

Shardul Thakur completely turns the fortune in the favour of Kolkata Knight Riders as he inches closer towards his half-century. He is currently batting at 47 off just 19 balls. In the previous over, he smashed two sixes off Michael Bracewell's delivery as KKR eye good total. 

Kolkata Knight Riders take a sigh of relief as Shardul Thakur and Rinku Singh successfully brought some momentum to their side. In the previous over by Akash Deep, the duo smash 19 runs as KKR aim for good total in the remaining overs. 

Karn Sharma removes Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Andre Russell back-to-back as Kolkata Knight Riders lose five wickets. The first one comes after Akash Deep takes a brilliant catch and Gurbaz's fiery innings of 57 runs comes to an end. The second wicket falls after Russell goes for a big hit on the first delivery but Virat Kohli takes a catch at the long-off. 

Rahmanullah Gurbaz brings up his maiden IPL half-century in style as he smashes a six off Karn Sharma's delivery. He takes 38 balls to reach the fifty-run mark as Kolkata Knight Riders aim to reach a good total. On the other hand, RCB are eyeing more wickets after taking three in quick succession. 

In the previous over, Rahmanullah Gurbaz hits a boundary and keeps on bringing Kolkata Knight Riders back on track. In the entire over, Shahbaz Ahmed leaks 6 runs as RCB eye more wickets. 

OUT!!! Michael Bracewell provides Royal Challengers Bangalore with another breakthrough as removes Nitish Rana for 1. The ball hits Rana's glove and travels towards Dinesh Karthik behind the stumps, who then takes a brilliant catch. Third wicket gone for KKR. 

After losing two wickets in a quick succession, Kolkata Knight Riders aim for recovery as Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Nitish Rana are snatching runs from boundaries. In the previous over of Akash Deep, the duo clinched 15 runs, which included a six and a four and three extra deliveries. 

David Willey completely changes the momentum of the game as he removes Venkatesh Iyer and Mandeep Singh back-to-back. The first wicket comes after Iyer completely fails to judge the delivery as it goes and rattles up the middle and the leg stump. The second one comes after Willey's pace dislodges Mandeep's off stump. Terrific bowling from Willey. 

After leaking 12 runs in the first over, Royal Challengers Bangalore get back on track in the second one. In the second over, David Willey concedes only 3 runs and successfully controls the flow of runs. On the toehr hand, Iyer and Gurbaz are eyeing a good opportunity to score boundaries for KKR. 

Kolkata Knight Riders off to a good start as Venkatesh Iyer and Rahmanullah Gurbaz have successfully stolen two boundaries in the first over. Mohammed Siraj concedes 9 runs in the first over as RCB eye quick wickets, in order to dominate KKR. 

The IPL 2023 match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore begins with Venkatesh Iyer and Rahmanullah Gurbaz opening for KKR. On the other hand, Mohammed Siraj bowls the first over for RCB. 

"There is a good nervous energy around the group which shows that we care, we had a good start, but we also want to keep continuing the same sort of process and momentum we can achieve over a period of games is what's gonna help us through this IPL. This first month is all about making sure you get the process right and not get too ahead of yourself the second month is where it really counts and you need make sure all your guns blazing and have that constant energy through that second month which is always gonna help you cross the line. There's gonna be a lot of support for us, that's one great thing. The pitch, it looks very different to what it could be, so to see how it will behave - is it gonna turn, is it gonna have less bounce or is it gonna be the usual Eden Gardens wicket which obviously has a lot of runs in it. So, we gotta assess that and make sure we got on top of that real quick."

"Guys are excited to be back here. Like most teams, it's just not the captain, there's a number of different leaders throughout teams that help as well. There's number of guys that played a lot of T20 and IPL cricket, Nitish had an experience of captaining Delhi in domestic cricket here, so he is not an inexperienced captain. IN IPL, it is his first time, but he has done a great job so far. There's a couple of class players top of the order (for RCB) that played for a long time and when you play against guys for a long period of time they obviously know a bit about you and hopefully you know a little bit about them as well. They had a great start to the IPL and hopefully we can get off to a winning start here at the Eden Gardens."

"Was looking to bowl as well because of the dew factor. Anukul is replaced by Suyash."

"Going to have a bowl. Bit of a misunderstanding with the accent there (confusion at the toss). Was dew last night. Hoping it will get skiddy in the second innings. That's a long way away. Today is a completely new game. Really motivated to put in a good performance. Forced change with Topley being injured. Willey comes in."

Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Faf du Plessis wins toss and opts to bowl against Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2023 match. 

Another high-scoring match on the cards? The strip at the Eden Gardens has an average of over 190 runs in the last nine games

While RCB will miss Topley, the Faf du Plessis-led side would be wary of facing Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy. Both the slow bowlers can make run-scoring a tough job.