Russell, Rana help KKR survive Klaasen fury for thrilling four-run win over SRH
Kolkata, Mar 23: Harshit Rana's resilience in the final over and Andre Russel's muscling fifty helped Kolkata Knight Riders survive Heinrich Klaasen's six-hitting spree and score a thrilling four-run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in their IPL match here on Saturday.
Klaassen almost turned the match on its head with a 29-ball 63 in which he moussed eight sixes without a single four.
But SRH bravely chased KKR's imposing 208/7, which was built around Russell's (64, 25b) and Phil Salt's 54 (40b), but could only make 204 for seven.
The South African took IPL's costliest buy Mitchell Starc to cleaners smashing him for three sixes, while Bengal cricketer Shahbaz Ahmed ended the Aussie left-arm quick's over with another six.
That 26-run over meant Starc, who joined the Knight Riders for a record Rs 24.75 crore, finished with woeful figures of 4-0-53-0.
Needing 13 off the last over, KKR gambled with rookie pacer Rana as he was hammered for seven runs off the first two balls.
But first he dismissed Shahabaz and then Klaassen off his penultimate delivery, which came through a superb backward diving catch by Suyash Sharma, to give the local side a fantastic win.
The Hyderabad outfit needed five runs off the last ball but skipper Pat Cummins failed to connect the ball, as Rana finished with fine figures (3/33).
Chasing the imposing target on a beautiful batting deck at Eden Gardens, Hyderabad found themselves at 145/5, needing 61 runs from 19 balls before Klaasen came in.
Earlier, openers Mayank Agarwal and Abhishek Sharma, who both scored identical 32, gave SRH a perfect start.
The duo made 60 runs in 33 balls before Agarwal was dismissed by Rana.
Before Rana got into the act, KKR's trump card Narine dished out his sorcery. The West Indian bowled from seventh to 13th over, and gave away just 19 runs in four overs.
He took only one wicket but stifled SRH's progress in the middle-overs.
However, KKR's fielding was an eyesore. Varun Chakravarthy's fitness was always a concern and it came to fore when he dropped a dolly to deprive Narine the wicket of Rahul Tripathi.
The former KKR batter got another reprieve in the next over and this time impact player Suyash failed to hold on to a return catch.
It would have been a boundary, but umpire Yeshwant Barde got in the way of the ball, leaving him grounded.
Earlier, Salt got third IPL fifty in just 38 balls before being dismissed by Mayank Markande (2/39).
The Englishman made 54 off 40 after Narine (2), Venkatesh Iyer (7), Shreyas Iyer (0) and Nitish Rana (9) fell cheaply with pacer T Natarajan (3/32) making early dents.
But KKR had the Dre Russ' power in their ranks.
Russell teed off against Markande when he launched the SRH leg-spinner deep into the stands -- three sixes in five balls.
Markande for a moment thought that he had the last laugh when Aiden Markram took a blinder at long-on but replays showed he grounded the forward diving catch, giving Russell a breather on 20.
The warning signs were on for SRH and the Jamaican went ballistic in Bhuvneshwar Kumar's penultimate over hitting him for two fours and two sixes, taking 26 runs.
Rinku Singh, at the other end, made a 15-ball 23 as the duo put together 81 runs from 33 balls as Kolkata scored 85 runs in the last five overs.
However, credit should also go to Salt and Ramandeep Singh.
Salt remained firm despite early wickets and got handy support from debutant Ramandeep who quickly ran off the blocks in an entertaining 54-run partnership.
Ramandeep slammed Cummins for a boundary and then pulled a short one for a six.
He also hit Markande and Marco Jansen and Shahbaz Ahmed for three more sixes in his 17-ball 35 before being dismissed by Cummins.
The partnership set the tone for the final assault by Russell and Rinku.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
'Traitor' jibe: HC issues notice to police, Sena MLA on Kamra's plea against FIR
Mumbai (PTI): The Bombay High Court on Tuesday issued a notice to Mumbai police and Shiv Sena MLA Murji Patel on comedian Kunal Kamra's plea challenging an FIR lodged against him for allegedly passing a "traitor" jibe at Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
A division bench of Justices Sarang Kotwal and S M Modak said it would hear Kamra's petition on April 16.
The comedian has failed to appear before the Mumbai police for questioning despite three summons issued to him.
Following a complaint by Sena MLA Murji Patel, the Khar police in Mumbai last month registered the FIR against Kamra under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 353(1)(b) (statements conducing to public mischief) and 356(2) (defamation).
"Issue notice to the respondents (police and Patel). They shall take instructions and respond to the plea," the HC said.
Three FIRs registered against the comedian at Nashik Rural, Jalgaon and Nashik (Nandgaon) have also been transferred to the Khar police.
Kamra's counsel Navroz Seervai informed the Bombay HC bench that the Madras High Court on Monday extended till April 17 the earlier interim transit anticipatory bail granted to the comedian.
The petitioner has offered in writing thrice to the police to allow him to appear for questioning via video conference in light of the dangers and threat to his life, Seervai said.
"It seems that the police authorities are not so keen on recording his statement but more on bringing him here physically," the senior counsel claimed.
Kamra is presently in Tamil Nadu where he has been residing since 2021, as per his plea.
"This is not a case of murder. It is an FIR that has stemmed from a stand-up comedy show. He (Kamra) is ready to cooperate with the probe but through video conference," Seervai said.
The bench said it would consider all issues on April 16.
During the show, stand-up comedian Kamra had taunted Shinde, without taking his name, using a modified version of a Hindi song from the film "Dil To Pagal Hai" where he called him a "gaddar" (traitor).
The comedian went on to joke about how Shinde rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray's leadership (in June 2022).
In his plea filed on April 5, Kamra claimed the complaints against him were violative of his fundamental rights of freedom of speech and expression, right to practice any profession and business and right to life and liberty guaranteed under the Constitution of India.
He sought for the FIR to be quashed, claiming the allegations, even if taken at face value, do not constitute an offence.
The comedian also sought the HC to protect him from any coercive action including arrest, seizure of his personal electronic devices and examination of his financial transactions and accounts.
"To permit the investigation to continue would constitute a frontal assault on the freedom of speech and expression. Should a citizen's right to comment on the political developments and actions of political leaders be criminalised in this manner?" the petition said.
Kamra said his remarks made regarding the split in the Shiv Sena, Shinde quitting Uddhav Thackeray's Sena faction and being sworn in as the chief minister at the time (in 2022) are all part of records.
The plea said the FIR has been registered on a stand-up comedy performance, which provides satirical commentary on various social and political events of the country.
There has been a gross abuse of process and the malafide deployment of the criminal justice machinery by a member of the state's legislative assembly, resulting in a patent violation of a citizen's fundamental rights, it claimed.
As per the petition, Kamra wrote the show's script in July 2024 and performed it on 60 occasions between August last year and February 2025.
A recording of the show was uploaded only in March 2025, pursuant to which case was lodged, it said.
