Phil Salt was signed by KKR after Jason Roy had pulled out of IPL 2024 due to personal reasons.
Wicketkeeper-batter Phil Salt shone on his KKR debut with a valuable 54 off 40 balls, which included 3 fours and 3 sixes. Salt started brilliantly and gave KKR a blazing start. Interestingly, all of his three sixes came in the second over of the match when he smacked left-arm quick Marco Jansen for three sixes.
At that time, it was looking all good for KKR as they were running away with the match. But a flurry of wickets saw them slip to 51-4. Salt was still at the crease and formed a quickfire 44-run partnership with Ramandeep Singh. The England batter was finally dismissed for a well made 54.
Phil Salt started aggressively but adapted well due to the fall of wickets at the other end. His strike rate might not tell the story but his knock was a valuable one considering the margin of victory for Kolkata Knight Riders. Along with Salt, it was Andre Russell who created the real difference in the end by blasting a 25-ball-64 at No. 8.
After KKR’s win on Saturday, Phil Salt lauded his teammate Andre Russell on his outstanding knock. Salt, who has earlier played with Russell in The Hundred for Manchester Originals, praised Russell’s ball-striking abilities.
“I’ve played with Dre in the Hundred. He’s a phenomenal ball striker. The best in the world on his day. So, to see him do what he did, obviously is incredible. Love watching it, but, you know, it’s no surprise to me. I don’t think it’s a surprise to anybody on the ground. When he’s on, he’s incredible,” Salt said.
The opener also heaped praise on Ramandeep Singh for the latter’s brilliant cameo in the middle overs. Ramandeep came in at No. 6 above Rinku SIngh and scored a counter-attacking 35 off 17 balls, which included 4 sixes and a four.
“Yeah, you know, what I said to the previous two batters is we’ll take it to the 8th over, and if another wicket falls, we’ll take it to the 10th. I said the same to Ramandeep, I said we’ll take it to the 12th and we’ll reassess there. He was really smart the way he played. He took the pressure off me to hit the boundaries. He came in and had a hell of a cameo and we started to put a partnership together, Salt added.
WATCH: Gautam Gambhir in shock as Heinrich Klaasen smashes Mitchell Starc for 26 runs in an over
Andre Russell produced a brilliant all-round show with an unbeaten 64 with the bat and 2 wickets with the ball. KKR just about prevailed Heinrich Klaasen’s storm at Eden Gardens and got home by 4 runs. Klaasen scored 63 off just 29 balls and smacked 8 sixes during his knock.
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