Picture Credit: X/IPL
In match 31 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, the Shreyas Iyer-led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are hosting the table-toppers Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Notably, both the sides are coming after comprehensive wins in their respective last fixtures. While the Royals beat the Punjab Kings, the KKR beat the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for the first time in IPL history.
As the two sides took the field after RR won the toss and invited KKR to bat first. With Trent Boult opening for RR, KKR’s wicketkeeper-batter Philip Salt survived an early dismissal with Riyan Parag dropping a dolly. However, Salt’s inning in the middle was cut short in the fourth over. With Sanju Samson re-introducing Avesh Khan to bowl his second, and fourth of the inning, the Indian pacer completed a brilliant one-handed catch to dismiss Salt.
Khan bowled a wide of off with Salt skewed it off the thick inside half of the bat. As the ball went low, Avesh Khan managed to stick his hand out to take a well-judged returning catch to dismiss the England keeper-batter.
Watch Avesh Khan’s brilliant catch here:
Soon after taking at low catch, RR skipper Sanju Samson was quick to hand his glove with which the pacer celebrated in style. Khan took the bowl in his hand with the glove on and raised it towards the dressing room.
Earlier in the match, RR skipper invited KKR to put the score first on the board. “We would like to bowl first. Might be better to chase on this. Very much excited to be back in Eden Gardens, there’s a great vibe in the stadium. Jos and Ash are available for this game, so they are coming back,” Sanju Samson said at the toss.
KKR vs RR IPL 2024 Playing XI
Kolkata Knight Riders: Philip Salt (wk), Sunil Narine, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Shreyas Iyer (C), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana.
Impact Subs: Suyash Sharma, Anukul Roy, Manish Pandey, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Vaibhav Arora.
Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (wk/C), Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Kuldeep Sen, Yuzvendra Chahal.
Impact Subs: Jos Buttler, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Shubham Dubey, Navdeep Saini, Nandre Burger.