Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are gearing up for the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and their key batters Phil Salt, Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh seem to be in good form with the bat. The trio did well in the practice match that was organised by the management ahead of the season. The players were divided into two teams - Team Purple and Team Gold and it turned out to be a thrilling encounter in the end.
All three aforementioned batters were part of the team gold and batting first, they managed to post a mammoth total of 237 runs in their 20 overs. While Salt scored 78 runs off 41 balls, KKR skipper for IPL 2023 Nitish Rana smashed 50 off just 30 deliveries. The newest sensation in Indian cricket, Rinku Singh continued his good run with the bat scoring 37 runs off just 16 balls to propel the team's score. Even Andre Russell who played for team gold scored a few runs helping his side post a huge total on the board.
In response, team purple also fought well taking on the bowlers on flat pitch and almost chased down the target. They reached 232 runs in their 20 overs falling short by just five runs in the end. Compared to team gold, the purple side was light on batting with the main aim of the practice match seemed to be letting the batters of the first-choice playing XI bat together ahead of the IPL season.
A few of the players from Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) also got an opportunity to showcase their skills with bat and ball during the match as not all players have arrived and started training for KKR. Interestingly, the most expensive player in IPL history, Mitchell Starc arrived only on Sunday (Mach 17) and all eyes will be on him when he comes out to bowl in the nets.
For the unversed, KKR are scheduled to play their first game of IPL 2024 on Saturday (March 23) against the Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata and with their regular skipper Shreyas Iyer returning, the team and fans will be hopeful of an improved show this year.
