Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) took a leaf out from the Sunrisers Hyderabad's (SRH) book of smashing a big total on Wednesday in the IPL as a week after Orange Army's destructive 277 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, the two-time champions nearly broke their record amid carnage in Visakhapatnam against the Delhi Capitals on April 3. Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Sunil Narine and Andre Russell led a monstrous show with the bat as the Knight Riders feasted on a belter of a surface and some poor bowling from the Delhi team to smash their highest total of 272 runs.
KKR now in one week have become the second team to break the record of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who held the record of highest team score in IPL for 11 years. KKR had actually the opportunity to go past even the Sunrisers, with 14 runs needed in the last over for them to go past 277 but Ishant Sharma bowled a commendable final over for the Capitals to concede only eight runs and dismiss Andre Russell and Ramandeep Singh to minimise the carnage just a little.
Highest totals in IPL history
277/3 - SRH vs MI (Hyderabad, 2024)
272/7 - KKR vs DC (Visakhapatnam, 2024)
263/5 - RCB vs PWI (Bengaluru, 2013)
257/5 - LSG vs PBKS (Mohali, 2023)
248/3 - RCB vs GL (Bengaluru, 2016)
KKR's previous highest total was 245 which they got against the then Kings XI Punjab in Indore in the 2018 edition. 272 was KKR's highest total but overall the seventh-highest in T20 cricket and third highest in franchise T20 cricket after SRH's 277 and Melbourne Stars' 273 against the Hobart Hurricanes a couple of years ago. 272 is also the highest score in the IPL against the Delhi Capitals as KKR broke Chennai Super Kings' record, who posted a 223-run total last year in Delhi.
The 104-run partnership between Narine and Raghuvanshi off just eight overs set it up for the Knight Riders as the likes of Andre Russell and Rinku Singh gave the impetus at the end. The KKR batters kept going after the start they got with small boundaries and a good wicket to bat on at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium.
