The second practice match of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) players ahead of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 saw a big score in the first innings. Dinesh Karthik XI played against Robin Uthappa’s XI. Chris Lynn, Andre Russell and new recruit Rinku Singh starred in the match. Russell was at his destructive best in the match, going deep into the crease, using his muscle power and just flicking the ball for sixes.
Russell scored a half-century as he joined Rinku in the middle. As Rinku held on to one end, there was a flurry of boundaries from Russell’s bat. The West Indies batsman, who is returning to the fold after a ban, took on India’s Under-19 sensation Kamlesh Nagarkoti. He hit him for a six over long on. Nagarkoti was picked for Rs 3.20 crore in the IPL 2018 auctions. Whereas Russell was retained for Rs 7 crore in the IPL retentions.
Rinku scored 53 runs from 33 balls and proved that KKR were right in spending Rs 80 lakh for him in IPL 2018 auctions. DK XI put on a massive total of 203 on the board batting first. Robin XI could not chase down the total and lost the match by 25 runs.
The destructive Australian opener Lynn showed signs that he will be fit for the first match against Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 8. Lynn struck a few boundaries in his first practice game. The KKR opener also praised India’s Under-19 recruits Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi.
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KKR’s coach and former Zimbabwe player Heath Streak claimed that he was impressed with leg spinners Piyush Chawla and Kuldeep Yadav as they were able to extract turn from the wicket despite the pitch being a bit more on the greenish side.
