IPL 2020: Kolkata Knight Riders register first 50-run opening partnership of the season

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) registered their first opening partnership in excess of 50 runs in their match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League. KKR are facing off at the moment against CSK in what is a crucial match for them as they look to recover from a slump to qualify for the playoffs amidst Kings XI Punjab‘s (KXIP) resurgence.

KKR are currently at the 5th spot on the points table having won 6 matches out of 12. They are level on points with 4th placed KXIP who have a better run-rate. With just two more matches to go for the league stages to end, KKR can ill afford to lose another game today.

Gill and Rana register first 50-run opening partnership

KKR have struggled with regard to stitching together a good opening partnership and getting off to a blazing start. They have tried a plethora of opening combinations. The likes of Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi and Sunil Narine have all opened the innings for KKR. However, none of these combinations have been able to weather the initial pressure by the bowlers to come good as a partnership.

The 11-match streak of not having a 50-run opening partnership was broken when Nitish Rana and Shubman Gill were involved in a a partnership of 53 against CSK. The duo got off to a confident start as they struck three fours off Deepak Chahar’s first over. They then steadily accelerated before Rana cut loose in Mitchell Santner’s over hitting him for two fours and a six. The stand was broken when the partnership was on 53 by a beauty of a delivery by Karn Sharma that saw Gill beaten all ends up.

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