KKR target Travis Head directly with ‘distasteful’ post after Vaibhav Arora extends SRH star's horror IPL run vs Kolkata
KKR's social media handle did not hold back after Travis Head was out for 4 off 2 balls.. They documented his struggles in a post after KKR beat SRH by 80 runs.
If there is a list of cricketers who live rent-free in Indian cricket fans' minds, it can be asserted with a lot of conviction that Travis Head would feature in its top half. The Australia opener, in different formats, has inflicted pain on India like no other in recent memory. He almost single-handedly robbed India of two ICC titles by scoring blistering centuries in the WTC final in 2023 and then the ODI World Cup final later in the same year. He was a proper thorn in India's flesh, even in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. But one Indian franchise has got the measure of him. The Kolkata Knight Riders have done something that very few teams across the globe have been able to do: Not letting Travis Head score runs.
0 off 2 balls, 0 off 4 balls, 4 off 2 balls. These are Head's scores against KKR in his last three appearances. In the IPL Qualifier 1 of IPL 2024, Head was castled by his Australian teammate Mitchell Starc, a bowler who has given nightmares to Head. A couple of nights later, Vaibhav Arora sent Head back for a four-ball duck in the IPL final, and the same bowler guided Head to the dressing room on April 3, 2025 (Thursday) in an IPL 2025 match at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
KKR's social media handle did not hold back. They documented Head's struggles in an X post with the caption: "Head-ing towards the business, right from the start."
The post drew mixed reactions. Some hailed the KKR bowlers for sending Head back to the pavilion quickly, while others criticised the team's social media management for trolling an opponent.
Vaibhav, Iyer shine in KKR's big win
Chasing 201 for victory on an excellent Eden Gardens surface, Head started with a streaky boundary off his very first ball. He was not in control but somehow got enough bat on it to take it over Harshit Rana at mid-off. Vaibhav did not alter his plans. He came up with an identical full and away-going delivery, inviting Head to transfer his weight on the front foot - something that does not come naturally to the left-hander. Head once again did not make a connection and this time, the ball stayed within the reach of Rana, who took a good tumbling catch.
Vaibhav was on a roll in front of his home crowd. A diving Rahane brilliantly snapped Ishan Kishan at short extra cover in his next over. Vaibhav should have gotten one more wicket, but Andre Russell dropped a sitter from IPL debutant Kamindu Mendis before the Sri Lankan batter scored.
And to make things worse for SRH, Abhishek Sharma’s struggles continued when the left-hander sliced a catch in the slips off Harshit Rana’s slower delivery before Arora returned and removed top-scorer Heinrich Klaasen (33) to close out with brilliant figures.
Spinners Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy squeezed the middle-order with their impeccable bowling in favorable home conditions as Hyderabad lost wickets in clusters. Narine completed a haul of 200 wickets for Kolkata in the IPL when Mendis holed out at mid-wicket after scoring 27.
KKR bowled SRH out for 120 in 16.4 runs to register a huge victory by 80 runs.
Earlier, Venkatesh Iyer made a 25-ball half-century after Angkrish Raghuvanshi made an impactful 50 off 32 balls upfront to take KKR to 200/6.
