IPL 2018: Well Done Kolkata Knight Riders And Shah Rukh Khan, Says Mamta Banerjee

West Bengal chief minister Mamta Banerjee congratulated Kolkata Knight Riders after the state franchise made it to the playoffs for the eleventh edition of the Indian Premier League. The two-time IPL champions thrashed Sunrisers Hyderabad by 5 wickets to to qualify for the next stage of the tournament.

The win saw the Knight Riders taking their tally to 16 points in their final league game. Chasing 173, the Knight Riders reached home with two balls remaining with Chris Lynn starring with the bat.

Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine came out all guns blazing with the bat. It was Narine that got the chase going as he smashed 29 off 10. He took on Sandeep Sharma in the second over and collected 20 off the over to ease the pressure on Lynn. The Knight Riders raced away to 50 off just 3.3 overs.  At the end of the powerplay, the Knight Riders were comfortably placed at 66 for 1.

Lynn, on the other hand, continued to play smartly, mixing caution with aggression to keep the chase on track. The Australian reached his half century with a six off Sandeep Sharma. He built a 67-run stand with Robin Uthappa to all but seal the game for the Knight Riders. The hard-hitting batsman was finally dismissed by Siddarth Kaul on 55.

Uthappa and Dinesh Karthik then took the innings forward, adding 30 runs before the former departed after scoring 45. Karthik, however, remained till the end, scoring an unbeaten 29 to take his side home in the last over.

Earlier in the game, the Knight Riders bowlers bowlers made a strong comeback to restrict Sunrisers to 172 for 9. Shikhar Dhawan (50) and Shreevats Goswami (35) laid the foundation for a big total with a 79-run opening stand in under nine overs. The Sunrisers were cruising with 92 for 1 on the board after the first ten overs. Kane Williamson had raced to 36 off 16 before he was dismissed. At 128 for 2 in 13 overs, the Sunrisers were looking set for a big total. However, the Knight Riders bowlers came up with a fine show to restrict them.

Prasidh Krishna starred with the ball, picking up 4 for 30. He picked up three wickets in the last over and gave away just four runs to derail Sunrisers’ innings.  In the final 10 overs, the Knight Riders gave 80 runs and took eight wickets.

After the win, Miss Banerjee took to Twitter to laud the team and owner Shah Rukh Khan, writing:

“Well done @KKRiders for qualifying for play offs. Well done @iamsrk ShahRukh.”

Well done @KKRiders for qualifying for play offs. Well done @iamsrk ShahRukh

— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) May 19, 2018