Dinesh Karthik silenced his critics with an incredible 97 not out off 50 deliveries powered Kolkata Knight Riders to 175/6 at the end of 20 overs.
Rajasthan Royals won the toss, and opted to bowl. Batting first, KKR lost Chris Lynn and Shubhman Gill early. Nitish Rana chipped in with 21 runs, but fell soon after.
Dinesh Karthik started cautiously and played out the phase when the ball was seaming around. After Russell’s dismissal, Karthik stayed till the end to take Kolkata to a respectable total.
Karthik absolutely smoked the last two overs of the innings. He hit Jofra Archer for two sixes in the last two balls of the penultimate over. In the last over, Unadkat was taken to the cleaners as the wicket-keeper batsman smashed him for two sixes and a boundary.
Twitter was full of praise for the KKR captain. Some praised him for his proper cricketing shots while other asked if anyone is still surprised by his World Cup selection. Here are few of the reactions:
Dinesh Karthik has been under the scanner this season for his below par performance with the bat. Before this innings he scored a total of 117 runs from 10 matches. His tactics as a captain, too, has been receiving flak from the KKR fans.
Nonetheless, his innings against Rajasthan on Friday has been quite a statement to all his critics. The team management and the fans would hope he carries this form forward, and lead the Knight’s fightback
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)