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Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) created history after amassing a mammoth total of 272/7 against the Delhi Capitals (DC) at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium on Wednesday, April 3. The two-time winners now hold the record for the second-highest score in Indian Premier League (IPL) history after overtaking Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) famous 263/5 in the 2013 edition.
KKR opted to bat first after winning the toss and were on course for a huge score after piling on 88 runs in the powerplay phase. The foundation was laid by the in-form Sunil Narine, who raced to his fifty off just 21 deliveries and went on to record his highest T20 score.
Youngster Angkrish Raghuvanshi also made an impact in his maiden innings, while final flourishes from Andre Russell and Rinku Singh drove KKR's total past the 250-run mark and on the brink of history.
KKR in fact had the perfect opportunity to record the highest score in IPL history, considering where they were placed after the 18th over. With only four fielders in the deep due to slow over rate, the red-hot duo of Andre Russell and Rinku Singh were backed to breach the record held by SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH).
Although KKR only needed 13 runs in the final over to scale the record score of 277, they lost steam courtesy of a brilliant final over by Ishant Sharma. The veteran seamer got rid of Andre Russell with a brilliant yorker and conceded only eight runs to conclude the innings.
KKR's previous highest score in the IPL was 245/6 against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Indore during the 2018 edition.
"Having watched the SRH match, nothing's a winning score" - KKR's Angkrish Raghuvanshi
KKR's batting effort against DC is only bettered by SRH's recent record-breaking display against the Mumbai Indians (MI) earlier this season. However, despite scoring 277 runs in the first innings, it was far from a routine win for the Orange Army, who had to dig in and fight hard to secure a 31-run win.
The ideal conditions in Vizag coupled with the power-packed DC batting unit, one can expect yet another run-fest breaching the 450-run mark at least.
"I just wanted to watch the ball and react. I had worked in the nets for the last few weeks, just had fun watching Sunil play. Having watched the SRH match, nothing's a winning score, we'll have to bowl well. Bowl in the right channels and force them into mistakes," Angkrish Raghuvanshi said during a mid-innings interaction with the broadcasters
As anticipated, DC have made a promising start to the run chase, piling on 21 runs in nine deliveries. Although there is a very long way still to go, DC will be hoping for a miracle of the highest order.
