With a 29-run victory over Gujarat Titans in the IPL encounter in Kolkata on Saturday, the Kolkata Knight Riders kept their playoff hopes thanks to a 35-ball 93 from Finn Allen and an undefeated 44-ball 82 from Angkrish Raghuvanshi.
Chasing 248, captain Shubman Gill’s 49-ball 85 and Jos Buttler’s 35-ball 57, took GT to 218-4. Opener Sai Sudarsan made a 28-ball 53 not out after being retired due to injury. For KKR, Saurabh Dubey took one wicket while Sunil Narine (2/29) grabbed two.
Earlier, KKR took advantage of GT’s careless fielding to amass their season-high 247/2, with Finn Allen unleashing a stunning 35-ball 93 after surviving two early chances.
Mohammed Siraj (1/50) and Sai Kishore (1/38) were the wicket-takers for GT.
In a stunning attack that saw 86 runs come from boundaries, the explosive New Zealand opener made GT pay a heavy price for dropping him on 14 and 33. He smashed 10 sixes and four boundaries.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi (82 not out) and Cameron Green (52 not out) sustained the momentum with undefeated fifties in their 108-run partnership off just 53 balls for the third wicket after Allen tore away the bowling in the first half.
All three of the KKR half-centurions—Allen, Raghuvanshi, and Green—made GT pay a heavy price as they lost up to four catches during the innings. Washington Sundar granted Raghuvanshi a reprieve on 52. Arshad Khan dropped Green off Rashid Khan on 23.
Gujarat’s disciplined attack suffered greatly as poor catching exacerbated their issues during KKR’s unrelenting batting effort. The team was asked to bowl first by captain Shubman Gill on a sticky pitch that had stayed under covers following rain.
With the Green-Raghuvanshi combination performing well in their crucial match, Allen set the tone as the home team quickly reached 100 in nine overs and then reached 200 in just eight overs.
On 14, the towering Jason Holder had a clear opportunity at cover off Mohammed Siraj, but he dropped it.
The Kiwi opener then tore into Kagiso Rabada, hitting two consecutive sixes: one straight over mid-off and another blasted over midwicket off a 149kph delivery to reach 28 from just 11 balls.
Ajinkya Rahane never completely settled throughout his scratchy 14 off 14 balls before Siraj polished him up, as Allen controlled from one end.
After Rahane left, the powerplay slowed down for a little while before Allen was given another chance. Holder, who was brought into the attack, caused the batter to mishit, but Siraj made a simple catch at long-on.
Allen went into overdrive after that. He picked lengths early and cleared the boundaries with ease, attacking both pace and spin with equal ease. Allen blasted to a half-century off 21 balls, welcoming Rashid with two sixes and a four.
The perfect supporting part was played by Raghuvanshi. With a quick scoop over the wicketkeeper off Rabada to start underway, the young batter skillfully used the pace to keep the scoreboard ticking. Before Rashid finally put an end to the chaos with a well-timed catch at deep midwicket off Sai Kishore, Allen appeared destined for a second IPL century this season.
In the final overs, Green made sure there was no slowing down. With three sixes, the Australian all-rounder tore into the GT attack, while Raghuvanshi also contributed to KKR’s impressive conclusion.
