Eden-Gardens. (Photo Source: X)
The 15th match of between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, saw a low turnout at the venue. While the audience enjoyed Angkrish Raghuvanshi (50 off 32), Venkatesh Iyer (60 off 29), and Rinku Singh's (32* off 17) power-hitting, the stadium looked surprisingly empty. Many fans took to social media to express their concerns regarding this issue.
While some fans speculated that the reason was increased ticket prices, some felt that KKR's performance in their last two games was the reason. That said, it is a rare occurrence for grounds to go empty during an IPL match, especially at the Eden Gardens which is known to fill to capacity with the passionate fans in the state.
This ongoing game between turned out to be one-sided affair as SRH, asked to chase 201, failed to get going against the impressive bowling of the hosts. First, the SRH bowlers failed in front of KKR's strong middle-order batting and conceded a mammoth total. Later, the batters failed as the team struggled hard in the chase. Notably, SRH skipper Pat Cummins had decided to bowl first after winning the toss.
When the visitors came to bat in the second innings, their top-order batters were removed by Vaibhav Arora and Harshit Rana in no time. The bowlers wreaked havoc on the batters from both ends, taking three quick wickets. In 2.1 overs, SRH were reeling at 9 for 3. Following that, the middle-order batters tried to build partnerships, but the KKR bowlers kept getting breakthroughs at regular intervals and never allowed their opponents to recover.
Newcomer Kamindu Mendis scored 27 runs off 20 balls, including one boundary and two sixes, after getting a lifeline early in the innings. However, apart from him and Heinrich Klaasen (33 off 21), none of the other batters could cross even the 20-run mark. Eventually, the hosts won a massive margin of 80 runs to register their second win of the season.
