IPL 2023: Varun Chakravarthy delivers match-winning spell for KKR
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore to claim their first win of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) season at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. They successfully defended 204/7, bowling out the Royal Challengers for 123. Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy took four wickets to power KKR's win. Earlier, Shardul Thakur lifted KKR from 89/5, having shared a century stand with Rinku Singh.
The pick of KKR's bowlers
Mystery spinner Chakravarthy was the pick of KKR's bowlers in the match. Chakravarthy came into action after Narine got rid of Virat Kohli. Chakravarthy then dismissed Faf du Plessis and Harshal Patel to turn the match for KKR. He sent back Akash Deep to complete his four-fer. The 31-year-old conceded just 15 runs in a total of 3.4 overs.
Chakravarthy races to 47 wickets
Chakravarthy, who made his IPL debut in 2019, has now raced to 47 wickets from 44 matches in the tournament. The right-arm spinner averages 25.79 with the ball and has an economy rate of 7.14.
Here's how Chakravarthy rose to prominence
During the IPL 2020, Chakravarthy's mystery spin was hailed by several experts. In the game against Delhi Capitals, he became the second bowler after Sunil Narine to take a five-for for KKR (5/20). Chakravarthy snapped up 17 and 18 wickets in the 2020 and 2021 editions, respectively. On the back of these performances, Chakravarthy received his maiden call-up to the Indian T20I squad.
KKR spinners take nine wickets
While Chakravarthy and Suyash shared seven wickets, Narine took two. Shardul was the only KKR pacer to pick a wicket in the match. These are the most wickets (9) taken by spinners in an IPL innings.
