The Royals finished third in the group stage of this year's IPL after four straight losses preceded the washout in Guwahati.
In-form Royal Challengers Bengaluru awaits in the Eliminator for Rajasthan on May 22, with the former on a six-match winning streak to reach the playoffs.
Pat Cummins' Sunrisers Hyderabad will face leaders Kolkata, whose last two games have been abandoned, in the first qualifier in Ahmedabad the day before.
The Capitals had surpassed 220 runs in each of their last two matches, but their chances of doing so again were dented early on, Prithvi Shaw walking for 13 before the in-form Jake Fraser-McGurk followed before the end of the third over, his flat drive being taken by Venkatesh Iyer near the boundary for 12.
Varun Chakaravarthy posted figures of 3-16 as Kolkata prevented their visitors from mounting any kind of response, with only Kuldeep Yadav's unbeaten 35 off 26 balls helping them crawl beyond the 150 mark and finish their innings on 153-9.
Salt started brilliantly for Kolkata, plundering his way to a half-century within the first six overs of the chase. He was bowled by Axar Patel, but only after the openers had raced to 79-0, with Sunil Narine and Rinku Singh dismissed shortly after.
Shreyas and Venkatesh Iyer ticked off the remaining runs with ease, securing the win for Kolkata with 21 balls left.
Data Debrief: A sprinkle of Salt
England all-rounder Will Jacks smashed an unbeaten century off just 41 balls to propel Royal Challengers Bangalore to victory over Gujarat Titans on Sunday, and his compatriot Salt followed up with a stunning knock this time around.
He reached 52 in just 26 balls, with a further two boundaries taking him to 60 and seeing Kolkata reach 79 by the end of the powerplay. His knock included seven fours and five sixes.
Iyer took over as the leading run-scorer in the IPL with a magnificent 104 from 51 balls in KKR's 185-6 at the Wankhede Stadium.
The left-hander struck nine sixes and another six boundaries, facing only 49 balls to get to three figures as he ended a 15-year wait for a KKR century since Brendon McCullum achieved the feat.
He finished on the losing side, though, as Ishan Kishan (58 from 25) smashed a quickfire half-century and Suryakumar Yadav (43 off 25) returned to form to give Mumbai back-to-back wins.
Iyer put on a show after Cameron Green and the excellent Piyush Chawla (1-19) dismissed Narayan Jagadeesan and Rahmanullah Gurbaz respectively in the powerplay.
The in-form number three carted the Indians attack to all parts, dominating a fourth-wicket stand of 50 with Shardul Thakur in a masterclass before finally falling to Riley Meredith soon after bringing up a swashbuckling hundred.
There was a late flurry from Andre Russell (21 not out from 11), but it soon became apparent KKR were short of runs as Kishan and Rohit Sharma – batting as an impact player while struggling with a stomach bug – got Mumbai off to a flyer.
Suyash Sharma (2-27) had Rohit (20) superbly caught by Umesh Yadav to end a partnership of 65 in the fifth over, with Kishan hitting five sixes and as many fours before he was bowled by Varun Chakravarthy.
Suryakumar and Tilak Varma (30) then put on 60 to put the Indians well on their way to victory before Tim David (24no from 13) got the team home with 14 balls to spare.
Iyer takes orange cap in style
Iyer took the Indians attack apart, scoring KKR's first century since current England Test head coach McCullum bludgeoned a brutal 158 back in April 2008.
The 28-year-old's hundred was the second of this tournament, two days after Harry Brook's 100 for Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Iyer's exploits ensured he took the top scorer's orange cap from Shikhar Dhawan, with 234 runs from five visits to the crease at an average of 58.50.
Suryakumar steps up as captain
It had been a miserable IPL so far for Mumbai's Suryakumar, but he was back in the runs skippering the side with Rohit unable to play a full part.
He missed out on a half-century after nicking Thakur behind, but looked in good touch as he cleared the rope three times and hit another four boundaries.
KKR would have moved above Kings XI Punjab into fourth place with a win in their penultimate match of the regular season in Dubai on Thursday, but they were beaten by bottom side Chennai.
Nitish Rana made a magnificent 87 off 61 balls to get KKR up to 172-5, spinner Jadeja taking 1-20 from three overs and Lungi Ngidi 2-34.
CSK were going along well with Ruturaj Gaikwad (72 from 53) and Ambati Rayudu (30) putting on 68 for the second wicket, but slipped to 140-4 after losing three wickets for 22 runs.
Pat Cummins (2-31) and Varun Chakravarthy (2-20) had KKR scenting victory, the Australia paceman having cleaned up Gaikwad and MS Dhoni falling for only one.
The Super Kings needed 30 off 12 two overs, but Lockie Ferguson conceded 20 off a nightmare 19th over and Jadeja (31 not out from 11) clattered the penultimate ball of the match from Kamlesh Nagarkoti for six before sending the last delivery beyond the ropes when just one was needed to win.
Back-to-back defeats have left KKR with their fate out of their hands ahead of a showdown with Rajasthan Royals on Sunday.
RANA RAISES THE TEMPO
KKR got bogged down in the middle of their innings as the Super Kings spinners gave little away after Karn Sharma uprooted Shubman Gill's leg stump.
They were 93-3 when Rinku Singh fell to the impressive Jadeja off the fifth ball of the 13th over, but Rana hung around to take them up to a competitive total.
KKR took 66 off the last five overs, Rana shifting through the gears after reaching his 50 off 44 balls and hitting four sixes in a quality knock, with Dinesh Karthik adding a brisk unbeaten 21.
LOCKIE LAPSES COST KKR
With the excellent Gaikwad still in the middle and 53 needed off six overs, it seemed to be advantage CSK but they could only take eight off the next two overs and Varun accounted for Dhoni.
Varun also dropped Sam Curran – who finished unbeaten on 13 – before he was off the mark, but it was the return of Ferguson that proved to be the most costly, the paceman bowling a wide and then a no-ball that cost three runs.
Jadeja added insult to injury by launching the resulting free hit for six and struck Ferguson's final ball to the boundary to leave KKR needing 10 off the last over.
Nagarkoti gave KKR hope by conceding three off four balls, but Jadeja was in the mood, hitting him over midwicket for six and blasting the last delivery over wide long-on to floor KKR.
Kolkata mustered 171-6 from their 20-over allocation and looked heavy favourites, with MS Dhoni's Super Kings needing 24 off the final 10 balls.
However, Jadeja (22) smashed 20 off Prasidh Krishna's final four balls in the penultimate over, with number 10 Deepak Chahar (one not out) then holding his nerve to hit the winning run off the final ball of the match.
Shardul Thakur and Josh Hazlewood took two wickets apiece, and Jadeja picked up 1-21, but Eoin Morgan's Knight Riders still posted a handy total, with Rahul Tripathi (45) and Nitish Rana (37) providing much of the impetus.
Dinesh Karthik played an important hand with a late 26 from just 11 deliveries, but that did not seem to matter as Chennai made a dashing start to their reply, openers Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad making 43 and 40 respectively.
Once they both fell, Sunil Narine and the Knight Riders attack began to make an impact with the ball as the Super Kings collapsed from 102-1 to 142-6, despite Moeen Ali making 32.
Yet Jadeja then came up with the late intervention that earned him man-of-the-match honours, launching two sixes before immediately adding a pair of fours in the 19th-over burst.
Jadeja fell to the penultimate ball of the contest in Abu Dhabi, pinned lbw by Narine, but Chahar came up with the single required to give Chennai the win.
Nervy Narine
Narine's first two overs were blasted for 25, but the off-spinner led the Knight Riders' recovery as he removed Ambati Rayudu, Sam Curran and Jadeja.
He kept his team in the match all the way to the final ball, after Super Kings' top three earlier piled on the runs, but Jadeja's big-hitting had made it too much of a tall order.
More needed from Morgan?
Morgan struggled for fluidity with the bat, and he may feel his slow scoring ultimately cost his side as they were pipped on the final ball.
The England captain failed to capitalise on Tripathi's top-order impetus as he limped to just eight off 14 balls before being removed by Hazlewood in the ninth over with the score at 70-3.
The Royals first restricted the Knight Riders to 149-8 off their 20 overs after winning the toss and choosing to field.
KKR’s effort was led by a 47-ball 57 from Venkatesh Iyer that included a pair of fours and four sixes.
Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal led the way with the ball once again for the Royals, taking 4-25 from his four overs.
Chahal also made history with the wicket of KKR captain Nitish Rana, becoming the leading wicket-taker in IPL history with his 184th scalp, passing West Indian great Dwayne Bravo.
New Zealand quick Trent boult took 2-15 in three overs in support of Chahal.
The Royals were then dominant in their reply, needing only 13.1 overs to reach 151-1.
Jaiswal, who made the fastest fifty in IPL history when he brought up the milestone off just 13 deliveries, finished 98* off 47 balls. He hit 12 fours and five sixes.
Royals captain Sanju Samson ended unbeaten on 48.
Rajasthan are now third in the table with 12 points from as many games played.
In what will be his first stint in the IPL, the 34-year-old Charles joins KKR as a replacement for Litton Das, who departs to represent Bangladesh in a three-match ODI series against Ireland from May 9-14. He was contracted by KKR at a cost of USD$60,000.
Charles returned to the West Indies set up in October 2022 after a six-year absence from the team. In March 2023, he exploded scoring a 39-ball ton against South Africa and is expected to provide some stability to the KKR line-up that has struggled this season. KKR with only three wins from their nine matches so far this season are currently eighth in the 10-team league.
He will team up with former West Indies players Andre Russell and Sunil Narine in the KKR line-up
Joseph, who has previous IPL experience with the Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans, was the most expensive West Indian as well as the fifth most expensive player, going to the Royal Challengers Bangalore for 11.5 crore (USD 1,386,000 approximately).
West Indies T20I skipper Rovman Powell was the first player up for grabs on Tuesday, going for 7.4 crore (USD 892,000 approximately) to the Rajasthan Royals after a bidding war with the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Sherfane Rutherford was the next West Indian to be picked up, going to the Kolkata Knight Riders for 1.5 crore (USD 181,000 approximately).
ODI skipper Shai Hope earned a maiden IPL contract, going for 75 lakh (USD 90,500) to the Delhi Capitals.
Australian pacer Mitchell Starc is now the most expensive player in IPL history after being sold to the Kolkata Knight Riders for 24.75 crore (USD 2,982,000 approximately).
Starc broke the previous record of 20.50 crore (USD 2,470,000 approximately) set earlier in the evening when the Sunrisers Hyderabad outbid the Royal Challengers Bangalore for Starc’s teammate and World Cup-winning captain Pat Cummins.
New Zealand All-rounder Darryl Mitchell went for 14 crore (USD 1,687,000 approximately) to defending champions Chennai Super Kings while Indian pacer Harshal Patel went to the Punjab Kings for 11.75 crore (USD 1,412,000 approximately) to round out the top five buys.
The 32-years-old West Indies bowler does indeed face the threat of suspension after being reported for a suspect action during KKR’s victory over Kings XI Punjab last week. The spinner is allowed to continue bowling, for now, but another report to the Indian Premier League (IPL) would see Narine suspended until cleared by the BCCI Suspect Bowling Action Committee.
Narine had performed heroics for KKR after defending 14 runs off the final over, to help his team register a stunning 2 runs victory over KXIP. Despite that, however, Pietersen insists the bowler has not quite been at the same level since his last suspension. Narine was previously suspended in 2015 when he was ranked No. 2 on the ODI and T20 rankings. His action was reported as suspect in successive matches during the Champions League Twenty20. It resulted in his missing out on playing in the final for Kolkata Knight Riders, who lost to Chennai Super Kings.
“If I am honest, I am not so sure it (Sunil Narine absence) is a massive loss. Andre Russell is the guy you spend time talking about in team meetings. When he bowls, you are thinking about it. When he bats, you are thinking about it. It is the same when he is fielding,” Pietersen said on Star Sports.
“Sunil Narine has not been the same bowler for a few years now. He hasn’t had his best; he hasn’t had his real big spin. Coming to Sharjah, it is not something you are really worried about Sunil Narine. And then the bowlers have found him out in his batting. You bowl him short, he doesn’t like it,” Pietersen added.
Dhoni skippered CSK to their fourth title in 2021, beating KKR in the tournament decider, before his shock decision to allow Ravindra Jadeja to lead the side this year – one of two notable changes that left the Super Kings looking a little short.
CSK first missed the steadying presence of the departed Faf du Plessis – Player of the Match in last year's final – at the top of the order and were in need of a lift from Jadeja when he arrived in the middle in the eighth over.
Instead, he had Ambati Rayudu run out and almost consigned Shivam Dube to the same fate before finally settling alongside Dhoni.
The 40-year-old still did much of the heavy lifting in their 70-run, 56-ball partnership, scoring 35 off his final 13 deliveries to reach an unbeaten 50 and allow Jadeja's (26 not out) innings-ending six to take the Super Kings to what they hoped would prove a competitive 131-5.
Ultimately, that was not enough, as 44 from KKR opener Ajinkya Rahane ensured the chase was always ahead of the game.
Three Dwayne Bravo wickets saw him draw level with Lasith Malinga's IPL record of 170, but Shreyas Iyer, KKR's own new captain, finished the job with his unbeaten 20.
Teething problems for first-time skipper
There were no safer pair of hands in the IPL last year than Jadeja's, as he made 13 catches – the most of any player excluding wicket-keepers. But this was a nervy bow as captain in his 201st IPL match, only looking remotely comfortable with the bat once Dhoni – walking in to huge applause – took control.
Similarly, Jadeja appeared far happier playing his natural game than making big calls in the second innings, taking a simple catch from Rahane but soon blowing a review on an lbw appeal that saw Sam Billings clearly glove the ball.
KKR's long wait for Wankhede win ended
KKR ultimately fell just short in the final, but they were happy to see the 2021 tournament shifted to the United Arab Emirates due to coronavirus. The Knight Riders had won only one of their previous six IPL matches in India.
They may well have feared this match at Wankhede Stadium then, a venue at which they had suffered eight successive defeats. However, a first KKR win here since May 2012 was secured with relative ease.
“When Dre comes off, he wins games. When he’s on, he’s the very best in the world at what he does and we hope to see a little bit more of it,” McCullum said during an interview with ESPNCricinfo.
The 33-year-old Jamaican so far has 106 runs in three matches in the ongoing Indian Premier League including a match-winning 70 not out off just 31 balls in their second match against the Punjab Kings.
In typical Russell fashion, that blistering knock included just two fours and eight towering sixes.
“He’s got a heavy bat and he swings it. Once the ball is in his area, he connects and it just keeps sailing over the boundary. He does work extremely hard in the nets and he practices all his skills,” said KKR assistant coach and former Australia batsman David Hussey.
“The best thing about Dre is that no matter what the situation is in the game, we’re 10-5 or 150-2, he’s going to play the same way and his whole goal is to entertain. Once he hits the ball it generally stays hit,” Hussey added.
Russel’s Kolkata Knight Riders are currently top of the table with three wins in four matches and will next take the field against the Delhi Capitals on April 10.
Russell injured himself during the second over of the KXIP run chase, while trying to prevent a boundary. He attempted a sliding dive but failed to stop the ball and then crashed into into an advertisement board.
He was later seen icing the knee and eventually returned to the field in the eleventh over only to leave the field for good shortly thereafter.
Speaking after the game, KKR skipper Dinesh Karthik expressed concern over Russell, whom he described as a very special player.
“Whenever Russell gets injured, you know it is hard. He is a very special player, he is a very special person. We need to go and look at him,” Karthik said clearly concerned over whether Russell would be fit enough to start their next game on Monday when KKR plays the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Dre Russ has struggled with the bat so far this season, scoring on 55 runs this season with a high score of 24. He has been carrying an issue with his knee since playing for the Jamaica Tallawahs in the CPL held earlier this year.
Narine ended with 2 wickets for 28 runs as KKR defended a par score of 164 to register their second win in a row and climb up to third position on the points table. The bowler artfully defended 14 runs off the final over to help his team stun KXIP by 2 runs. Following the match, however, an IPL release confirmed that the player’s bowling action was once again under scrutiny.
"Sunil Narine, the Kolkata Knight Riders player, has been reported for bowling with a Suspected Illegal Bowling Action during his side’s Dream11 Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 match against Kings XI Punjab at Abu Dhabi,” the release stated.
"The report was made by the on-field umpires according to the IPL’s Suspected Illegal Bowling Action Policy. Mr. Narine will be placed on the Warning List and is permitted to continue to bowl in the tournament,” it continued.
"Another report will result in Mr. Narine being suspended from bowling in the Dream11 IPL 2020 until cleared by the BCCI Suspect Bowling Action Committee."
Narine's bowling action was previously reported for the same offense in 2015 and was banned from bowling off-spinners in that season and even missed the 50-over World Cup for the West Indies to work on his action.
The Royals set a below-par target of 152-5 after top-order batsmen Jos Buttler (22) and Devdutt Padikkal (2) struggled to make headway early on, although captain Sanju Samson's half-century dragged them into contention.
Although Kolkata's own top-order fared little better as Baba Indrajith (15) and Aaron Finch (4) succumbed to early dismissals, Rana (48) and Rinku (42) fell narrowly short of half-centuries to end the Knight Riders' dire form.
Despite Samson's haul, the Royals have now fallen to back-to-back IPL defeats, missing the chance to go second in the standings with four matches remaining.
Having won four of their last five coming into the contest, the Royals were put in to bat after Kolkata skipper Shreyas Iyer won the toss, and made a nightmare start when losing Padikkal for just two runs.
Things went from bad to worse when Buttler, the IPL's leading batsman with 566 runs prior to Monday, was caught by Shivam Mavi for just 22, way down on his season average, in the ninth over.
Samson put in a talismanic captain's performance as his knock of 54 put the Royals in contention, but was caught by Rinku in the 18th over after Karun Nair (13) and Riyan Parag (19) were also sent packing.
The Knight Riders did not have it all their own way immediately when taking up the bat, losing Indrajith and Finch to Prasidh Krishna and Kuldeep Sen before the sixth over was through in a flat start.
However, Iyer's 34 set the tone for a vast improvement in the second half of Kolkata's innings, with Rana and Rinku's outstanding partnership leading them to what proved to be a routine win as the Royals paid the price for their errors with the bat.
Below-par Buttler sets the tone
Buttler has been key to the Royals' hopes after averaging 65.33 this season, hitting a magnificent century in a crushing win over the Delhi Capitals less than two weeks ago.
However, his dismissal at the ends of Tim Southee set the tone for a miserable outing for Buttler's side, with Southee adding the wicket of Parag in the 17th as Kolkata clinched a crucial victory.
Rana and Rinku combine in style
A five-match losing streak had left Kolkata stranded near the bottom of the IPL table, but Rana and Rinku combined for 90 in a brilliantly efficient display to drag the Knight Riders to an important win and lift them to seventh in the standings, within four points of the Royals.
The bit-hitting all-rounder was forced to leave the field after making a good save on the mid-wicket boundary and jumped himself off the field as soon as he threw back the ball. The 33-year-old did not feature for the team against the Dehli Capitals, or Friday’s encounter against the Punjab Kings XI.
Despite Russell missing the second game in a row, Morgan did not shed any more light on the player’s current injury status.
“Lockie and Russell are being monitored day by day. They have to rehab extremely well in order to be fit,” Morgan said.
Earlier, David Hussey, KKR’s team mentor, had described Russell’s injury as a hamstring injury but expressed hope that the player could return to the line-up soon,
“He said he felt something pop in his leg, his hamstring. We’ve got the best medical staff in the business so they’ll tend to him and hopefully, it’s nothing too serious, because he’s a key part of our team,” Hussey said.
In addition to the Knight Riders, the West Indies will also be closely monitoring the situation, with the player expected to line up for the World T20 later this month.
After falling to defeat to Punjab Kings in their opening fixture, the Knight Riders hit back in style at Eden Gardens against an RCB side that beat Mumbai Indians in their opener.
The hosts recovered from a slow start that saw them 89-5 at one point thanks to half-centuries from Shardul Thakur (68 runs off 29 balls) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (57 off 44).
Rinku Singh's 46 off 33 balls saw KKR reach 204-7 from their 20 overs, which RCB did not come close to chasing down after losing Virat Kohli (21) off the bowling of Sunil Narine.
Varun Chakravarthy took the big wicket of top-scoring Faf du Plessis (23) a few balls later en route to finishing with 4-15, while Suyash Sharma (3-30) also impressed for Kolkata.
KKR are back in action against Gujarat Titans on Sunday, while RCB are up against Lucknow Super Giants the following day.
Winning feeling returns
KKR needed a response and they got it, with this their 17th IPL win against RCB – only against Punjab Kings (20) have they won more times against in the competition.
Bangalore were left with too much to do and struggled to find any momentum thanks in large to the bowling of Chakravarthy, with the visiting side restricted to 123 runs in 17.4 overs.
Sunil shines on milestone occasion
Narine was playing his 150th game for KKR in the competition, becoming the first player to do so for the franchise and the seventh overall for a single team.
He marked the occasion with a couple of wickets at the expense of 16 runs, including that of Kohli in what was a big breakthrough for KKR.
Eoin Morgan's side limited the Capitals to 135-5 from their 20-over allocation as Varun Chakravarthy (2-26) was ably supported by Lockie Ferguson (1-26) and Shivam Mavi (1-27).
Shikhar Dhawan (36) and Shreyas Iyer (30 not out) were the pick of the batsmen but the Capitals were left facing an uphill battle, knowing Kolkata had won on all five occasions they have chased following the United Arab Emirates-based resumption.
Shubman Gill and Venkatesh Iyer then got the Knight Riders off to a flyer, forming a 96-run opening partnership as the former raced to a 38-ball half-century before falling to Kagiso Rabada (2-23).
The Capitals, who are the only side to qualify for the playoffs in each of the last three seasons, managed to remove Nitish Rana (13) and Gill through Anrich Nortje (2-31) and Avesh Khan (1-22) respectively to leave the score at 125 after 16.4 overs.
Rabada knocked over experienced campaigner Dinesh Karthik (0) to further hamper the chase and when Morgan (0) followed in the same manner to Nortje, seven runs were required off Ravichandran Ashwin's final over.
Ashwin (2-27) conceded just one off his first two balls, removing Shakib Al Hasan and Sunil Narine with his following two, before Rahul Tripathi (12 not out) smashed a maximum to collect the Knight Riders' seventh win in their last nine matches with just one ball to spare.
The win means Morgan's team will meet MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings in Friday's final as the Capitals fell before the showpiece once more.
Classy Chakravarthy
Chakravarthy may have overstepped and offered Shimron Heytmer a lifeline on just two, however, the Kolkata bowler escaped without too much punishment as the West Indian mustered just 15 more runs.
The 30-year-old was the only Knight Riders bowler to not concede a single maximum, delivering seven dot balls in an economical spell through the middle overs.
Nervy Narine
Narine was the man of the hour against the Royal Challengers Bangalore as he took 4-21 and blasted a 15-ball 26, but he failed to back up that heroic performance.
The KKR off-spinner went wicketless in his four-over allocation, conceding 27 runs before falling for a first-ball duck as he looked to launch his side to victory.
Shubman Gill's 56 helped Kolkata to a commanding total of 171-4 in Sharjah, where the Royals succumbed to a chastening defeat.
Shivam Mavi took four wickets, with Lockie Ferguson claiming three scalps as the Royals capitulated to 85 all out in the 17th over.
Kolkata look certain to finish in the top four, while their beaten opponents' already slim hopes went up in smoke.
Gill and Venkatesh Iyer (38) laid a solid foundation for KKR with a 79-run opening partnership, with the remainder of the order contributing double-figure scores.
By contrast, only two Royals batsmen hit double figures as Rahul Tewatia's fine 44 went unrewarded.
Mavi magic
With the Royals losing Yashasvi Jaiswal in the first over and slumping to 13-4 after only 22 deliveries, the writing was on the wall early on in their reply.
Mavi did much of the damage with the ball, his 4-21 restricting the Royals to their lowest total in this IPL season.
KKR almost there
The only team who can prevent the Knight Riders extending their campaign are reigning champions Mumbai Indians.
But the Indians, who play Sunrisers Hyderabad on Friday, must bat first and win by a record 171 runs in order to claim fourth spot on net run rate.
After Kolkata put 175-8 on the board, Hyderabad reached their target with 2.1 overs to spare, thanks to Markram's 68 not out from 36 balls and an equally explosive 71 from Rahul Tripathi.
At Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, only three Kolkata batsmen reached double figures, but Shreyas Iyer's 28, a rapid 54 from Nitish Rana and 49 not out by Andre Russell looked to have helped them to a competitive score. T Natarajan took 3-37, including the wickets of Iyer and Rana.
As it turned out, Sunrisers won with comfort, recovering from losing Abhishek Sharma (3) and Kane Williamson (17) early in their reply as Tripathi and Markram put on 94 for the third wicket.
Tripathi was furious at himself for holing out to long on with the team score on 133, giving Russell (2-20) a second wicket of the innings, but Markram took over the heavy scoring mantle from that point.
He finished the contest in style in the 18th over, taking a lusty four through midwicket off Australia Test captain Cummins before going the same way off the next ball.
Markram hooked the subsequent delivery for six over deep square leg, clinching a third win in a row for Sunrisers, who began the season with two defeats.
Knight Riders' missing ingredient
It is now two defeats in a row for Kolkata, who had won three of their first four in this campaign, and captain Iyer had little doubt where they had fallen short this time.
He said the batters had "put in a great effort" to post a healthy score, adding: "It was just a bad day for us from a bowling point of view, and we need to sit back, reassess stuff and come back stronger."
While Cummins (1-40 in 3.5 overs) took the bludgeoning late on, the likes of Aman Hakim Khan (0-13), and Varun Chakravarthy (0-45) proved too expensive before the match reached that point.
Tripathi onslaught turned the game
Reaching a half-century from just 21 balls was an outstanding effort from Tripathi, tilting momentum firmly the way of Sunrisers. He hit six maximums in what was comfortably his best score of the IPL season so far, passing the 44 he managed in an early defeat to Lucknow Super Giants. He was eventually out to the 37th ball he faced, with Sunrisers well on the way.
"It's nice to bat when a guy like Tripathi gets going," Markram, who hit four sixes in all, told beinSPORTS. "He almost gives you a bit of time to settle in. He really set a nice platform, and it feels good to get the win for the side."
Gambhir has returned to the IPL franchise as a mentor for the 2024 IPL season.
KKR on Sunday retained Russell and Narine along with Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Jason Roy, Nitish Rana, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Sunil Narine, Suyash Sharma, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy, and Venkatesh Iyer.
Russell joined KKR in 2014, while Narine joined in 2012 and both have been mainstays in the team since then.
“They both have been phenomenal cricketers for KKR. I feel that Gambhir has been quite pivotal in the retention of Russell and Narine. Gambhir understands them, he’s played with them, he’s captained them and he’ll be able to get the best out of them,” said Moody to ESPNCricinfo.
However, Moody also revealed their hesitation regarding Russell’s physical condition instead of his performance. Russell scored 227 runs in 14 matches while picking seven wickets for KKR in IPL 2023.
“I think we’ll see a different outcome in 2024 with regards to what Russell brings to the table. The only hesitation I have is not skill. It’s whether he can hold together physically because we’ve seen him break down on a couple of occasions over recent years and it’s been quite alarming. His bowling has been pretty limited as well, and they haven’t had the access to his full quota of overs,” Moody added.