Starc and Salt prove their worth as Knight Riders thump Super Giants
66 c Nabi b Hardik 17
Dhoni (not out) 20
Extras (lb3, w5): 8; Total (for four wkts. in 20 overs): 206.
FALL OF WICKETS
18 (Rahane, 1.4 overs), 260 (Ravindra, 7.5), 3150 (Ruturaj, 15.2), 4186 (Mitchell, 19.2).
MUMBAI INDIANS BOWLING
Nabi 30190, Coetzee 40351, Bumrah 40270, Madhwal 30370, Shreyas Gopal 1091, Hardik 30432, Shepherd 20330.
Toss: Mumbai Indians.
Aussie pace ace Mitchell Starc finally lived up to his high price tag with a threewicket haul and Phil Salt scored a brilliant halfcentury as Kolkata Knight Riders posted a comprehensive eightwicket win over Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League at the Eden Gardens here on Sunday.
After restricting LSG, which sought home comfort by donning citybased sister concern Mohun Bagan’s greenandmaroon colours, to 161 for seven, KKR achieved the target with 4.2 overs to spare to please its fans on Bengali new year.
Right from the toss, the host remained in control. Vaibhav Arora struck early to dismiss Quinton de Kock.
Starc bowled a shorter length and utilised the bounce well to test the LSG batters. He tasted success in the third over of his extended first spell as Ramandeep took a spectacular diving catch at point.
Captain K.L. Rahul (39) played some handsome shots on either side to build a platform. He hammered Andre Russell for a six over point before pulling the West Indian straight to deep midwicket.
Keeping it tight
With the ball gripping the surface, KKR spinners Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy kept it tight and picked up a wicket apiece. Varun accounted for Marcus Stoinis, while the parsimonious Narine removed the set Ayush Badoni (27).
Leading LSG rungetter Nicholas Pooran (45) tried to finish well. His trademark strokeplay, combining power and confidence, produced some big sixes on the legside, including two in a row off Arora.
The southpaw was caught behind as Starc returned to bowl expertly,