"I'm sure a better bowling attack would have defended it" - Twitter blasts KKR bowlers as RR chase down 224 in IPL 2024 

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) couldn't defend a mammoth target of 224 against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday, April 16. It was their first home loss of the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) season. The bowling unit led by Mitchell Starc had a forgettable evening as RR recorded the highest run chase in the competition's history.

Only the spin-bowling duo of Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy boasted an economy rate of less than 10. Their pacers, despite collectively picking up three wickets, had no real command over the proceedings, especially in the latter portion of the second innings.

Starc hit the 50-run mark in his bowling figures for the second time this season, and both of those dismal displays have come at the Eden Gardens. Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora collectively conceded 90 runs off their seven overs, while Andre Russell leaked 17 runs off his solitary over.

KKR had done the hard task of picking up wickets at regular intervals, but they could not keep Buttler away from the strike and expose the tail order.

Fans were fuming at the horrific bowling display, particularly Mitchell Starc, who is yet to justify his price tag (₹24.5 crore) in IPL 2024. Here are some of the reactions on Twitter:

"They can’t win the title with this bowling," one fan declared

"I'm sure a better bowling attack would have defended it," another fan opined

"If Starc keep bowling this trash Kkr should think about bringing in Chameera," one tweet read

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"It’s high pressure when you have five fielders inside the circle, you basically don’t have idea where to bowl" - KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer

KKR were firmly ahead in the game as they had a cushion of 96 runs to defend off the last six overs. However, it all unraveled from there with Buttler and Powell running the show. Poor line and lengths coupled with fielding mishaps all played a role in KKR being on the wrong side of history tonight.

Shreyas Iyer spoke about the decision to hand Varun Chakravarthy the final over, despite Vaibhav Arora still having an over remaining in his spell.

"Since he was striking it so well, I thought let’s take pace off the ball and gave it to Chakaravarthy and it’s high pressure when you have five fielders inside the circle, you basically don’t have idea where to bowl," KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer said during the post-match presentation

KKR are next scheduled to host the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Sunday, April 21.