Kolkata Knight Riders' seamer Harshit Rana gave a flying kiss to SunRisers Hyderabad opening batter Mayank Agarwal as part of send-off in IPL 2024 game at the Eden Gardens on Saturday. The right-arm seamer's send-off went viral as the Knight Riders were struggling to get a breakthrough while defending 209 in the stipulated 20 overs.
The incident occurred in the 6th over of the innings as Mayank pulled one onto the leg side, but didn't get the distance. Rinku Singh took an excellent low catch as Rana gave a flying kiss to the right-handed batter. Mayank also gave the 22-year-old a stare while walking back to the pavilion for 32.
The wicket of Mayank Agarwal broke the 60-run opening partnership with Abhishek Sharma.
Andre Russell and Phil Salt set SunRisers Hyderabad an imposing 209 for victory:
The Knight Riders, after being sent to bat first, didn't have the best of starts as the two-time champions crashed to 51-4 in the 8th over, with only Phil Salt looking solid. The likes of Sunil Narine, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, and Nitish Rana departed for single-figure scores.
Salt, along with Ramandeep Singh, revived Kolkata's innings with a 54-run stand. However, it was the 81-run stand between Andre Russell and Rinku Singh that propelled the Knight Riders to 208. The Jamaican all-rounder stayed unbeaten at 64 and reached his half-century off only 20 deliveries as launched an assault.
