IPL 2020: Kolkata Knight Riders become the third IPL team to play 200 Twenty20 Matches

Dinesh Karthik-led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) registered yet another victory in the 13th edition of Indian Premier League. They clinched the game from the jaws of defeat yesterday against Kings XI Punjab during the match number 24. After this triumph, KKR comfortably sits at the third spot in the Points Table with a healthy Net Run Rate.

This win will be special for the Kolkata-based franchise as this game also remarked their 200th Twenty20 (T20) match. They became the third IPL team to achieve this feat after Mumbai Indians (MI) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). The defending champions MI Paltan has featured in 215 clashes while Virat Kohli’s RCB has 201 games against their name.

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In 200 outings, KKR won 105 and ended up at the losing end in 91 matches. With four victories in six games in the tournament thus far, Dinesh Karthik and co. looks like clear favourites to make it to the final four.

Perfect match for Dinesh Karthik

Dinesh Karthik had received massive criticism for his performance thus far in the tournament. The veteran wicketkeeper-batsman failed to score runs for his side despite promoting himself up in the batting order. But the skipper shut all his critics during this game where he played a tremendous knock of 58 runs off just 29 deliveries. 

After receiving the ‘Player of the Match’ award, Karthik credited the head coach Brendon McCullum for backing him in the side. 

“McCullum has been encouraging me to bat higher, though I always feel I bat better somewhere in the middle. We have had these conversations, but in the end, I give him the credit for keeping me in a place where I can contribute to the team’s success,” told Karthik.

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