KOLKATA: Phil Salt's rapid 89 and three wickets for Mitchell Starc helped Kolkata Knight Riders race to a crushing eight-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants on Sunday.
Starc's 3-28 kept Lucknow down to 161-7 at Kolkata's Eden Gardens, with the other Knight Riders' bowlers putting in disciplined performances after their side elected to field first.
The Australian left-arm quick became the most expensive buy in IPL history after Kolkata shelled out $2.98 million for his services.
Opener Salt then steered the two-time IPL winners to their target in 15.4 overs for their fourth victory in five matches this season.
It was the English wicketkeeper-batsman's second half-century in the current IPL edition after he scored 54 in his team's opening win last month.
Salt held the chase together despite Kolkata losing two wickets including opener Sunil Narine for six.
He put on 120 runs with skipper Shreyas Iyer, who made 38, smashing 14 fours and three sixes in his 47-ball knock.
Players have been jostling to impress their national selectors ahead of the upcoming T20 World Cup starting June 1 in the West Indies and the United States.
Starc started slowly, leaking 10 runs in his first over, but came back strongly and sent back Deepak Hooda in his third with the help of a diving catch at backward point from Ramandeep Singh.
Mystery spinner Narine choked the flow of runs and returned figures of 1-17 before Starc bowled the 20th over for just six runs and two wickets.
He got the dangerous Nicholas Pooran on the first ball, caught behind for 45, and finished with a yorker to bowl Arshad Khan.
Big bucks Mitchell Starc, Phil Salt help Kolkata Knight Riders thrash Lucknow Super Giants in IPL
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Big bucks Mitchell Starc, Phil Salt help Kolkata Knight Riders thrash Lucknow Super Giants in IPL
- Starc's 3-28 kept Lucknow down to 161-7 at Kolkata's Eden Gardens
Record prize of up to $200k for a 9-darter at the Saudi Arabia Darts Masters
- Players who complete a perfect leg will receive $100,000, with the chance to double it by hitting the bullseye with a bonus 10th dart
- 8 Professional Darts Corporation stars will take on 8 of Asia’s top players in the tournament on Jan. 19 and 20 at the Global Theater in Boulevard City
RIYADH: Players at the Saudi Arabia Darts Masters in Riyadh next week have a chance to win a record-breaking cash prize for a nine-dart finish, with up to $200,000 up for grabs for a perfect leg.
Eight Professional Darts Corporation stars will take on eight of Asia’s leading players at the tournament, which is part of Riyadh Season, on Jan. 19 and 20 at the Global Theater in Boulevard City.
Turki Alalshikh, chairperson of the Kingdom’s General Entertainment Authority, revealed on Thursday that any player who hits a perfect nine-darter during the event will receive a $100,000 bonus, with the chance to double it through the Riyadh Season Bullseye Challenge.
With the leg already won, the player will throw a 10th dart, and if it hits the bullseye the prize will be doubled to $200,000, the biggest amount ever offered by a PDC-sanctioned event for a nine-darter.
Reigning world champion Luke Littler, who will head the line-up in Riyadh, previously hit a nine-darter on the World Series of Darts stage at the Bahrain Masters in 2024.
He will be joined by 2023/24 world champion Luke Humphries, world championship runner-up Gian van Veen, and three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen.
The PDC contingent also includes former world champion Gerwyn Price, world No. 7 Stephen Bunting, former UK Open winner Danny Noppert, and 2023 World Matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall.
Asia will be represented by Singapore veteran Paul Lim, who in 1990 famously threw the first televised World Darts Championship nine-darter, alongside Filipinos Alexis Toylo, Lourence Ilagan and Paolo Nebrida, Japan’s Motomu Sakai, Ryusei Azemoto and Tomoya Goto, and Hong Kong’s Man Lok Leung.
