Unbeaten in the opening games for the last four years, two-time Indian Premier League champions Kolkata Knight Riders had their task cut in their season-opener against Gujarat Lions, a team which had comfortably defeated them in both the encounters last year.
The match did not begin on a good note for KKR as the home team amassed 52 runs in the first six overs. Gautam Gambhir’s bowlers managed to check the scoring rate for a while but Suresh Raina and Dinesh Karthik played quickfire knocks to help the last year’s table-toppers put up a massive 184 in the allotted 20 overs. Raina was unbeaten on 68 runs from 51 balls while Karthik blasted 47 from only 25 balls.
Chasing 184 under the lights was always going to be a tough task but what transpired thereafter was total carnage. In Gambhir and Robin Uthappa, the visitors had a very stable opening pair but the Kolkata-based outfit promoted Australia batsman Chris Lynn to open the innings with their skipper and the decision proved to be masterstroke. The Australian, who was yet to prove his mettle in the IPL, blasted an unbeaten 93 off just 41 to blow the Lions away in their own den. The explosive knock was studded with 6 fours and 8 sixes, On the other end, Gautam Gambhir was also looking in his elements and remained unbeaten on 76 off only 48 deliveries as the visitors cantered to an impressive 10-wicket win in the 15th over.
The KKR skipper could not have asked for a better start to the tournament and took to Twitter to thank his fans for the wishes and also congratulated his team on a ‘fabulous team effort’
“Thank you for all the messages! Congratulations to the @KKRiders team on a fabulous team effort. Onwards and upwards! @IPL”,” the discarded India opener tweeted:
Thank you for all the messages! Congratulations to the @KKRiders team on a fabulous team effort. Onwards and upwards! @IPL
— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) April 7, 2017