Chasing a record 236 to win after putting the Super Kings to bat, the Knights fell short despite valiant efforts from Jason Roy and Rinku Singh with the bat at the Eden Gardens.
The Knights had their task cut out after the Super Kings slogged their way to a mammoth 235 runs courtesy fifties from Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane and Shivam Dube. Youngster Suyash Sharma who dismissed Ruturaj Gaikwad to break the opening stand was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 1/29 in his 4 overs.
In reply the Knights didn't get the start they wanted with Narine and Jagadeesan dismissed early. Nitish and Venkatesh tried to get things going with a flurry of boundaries but the pressure of the asking rate took its toll on the duo. Jason Roy, who couldn't open the innings earlier due to injury sustained in the fag end of the CSK innings looked in imperious form as he came out to bat hitting 3 sixes in the first 5 balls he faced to give the Knights faithful something to cheer about. Joined by Rinku Singh at the other end, the duo put on a 65 run stand before Roy departed trying to force the issue. Roy scored 61 of 26 balls featuring 5 boundaries and 5 maximums. With 101 still required in 5 odd overs, the task proved to be too much as the Knights folded at 186/8, falling short by 49 runs. Rinku Singh remained not out at 53 at the end, having scored his 2nd fifty this season.
Speaking after the match, Skipper Rana admitted that the Knights conceded a few too many runs with the ball and then didn't make the most of the powerplay which put the batting unit under pressure. Appreciating Jason Roy's innings, Rana rued the fact that the Englishman wasn't available to open and felt that could have made a difference at the start.
The Knights will next travel to Bengaluru to take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore in our first reverse fixture of the season on Wednesday.
