A clinical Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Wednesday secured a 37-run win over Rajasthan Royals (RR) here. After scoring 174/6 wkts in 20 overs, KKR restricted RR to 137/9 in 20 overs, with top scorer Tom Curran (54 not out off 36 balls) being one of just three RR batsmen to enter double figures.
Pat Cummins struck early with the big wicket of his Australian team mate Steve Smith in the second over of the RR innings. The in-form Sanju Samson was dismissed by Shivam Mavi in the fifth over which meant that RR had lost both their highest scoring batsmen thus far this season within the powerplay.
Jos Buttler scored a quickfire 21 off 16 and threatened to get back to the form he displayed last season, before falling to the very first ball of the seventh over bowled by Mavi.
It was all downhill for RR after that as they failed to get partnerships going. They were reduced to 88/8 in the 15th over with the fall of Jofra Archer. They were dragged to 137/9 by Curran who scored 54 not out off 36 runs and it meant that his unbeaten last wicket stand of 31 runs with Ankit Rajpoot ended up being RR’s highest on the day.
Earlier, opener Shubman Gill’s 47 and Eoin Morgan’s unbeaten 34 helped the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) score 174/6 against Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday. For RR, Jofra Acher marked his return to form with the ball as he bagged 2/18.
Sunil Narine’s dry spell with the bat continued as he was dismissed for 15 runs in the fifth over. His opening partner Gill, however, anchored the innings throughout its first half before finally falling in the 12th over to Archer, three runs short of a second consecutive half century.
Explosive all-rounder Andre Russell was threatening to finally show his full array of shots this season, reaching 24 runs in 14 balls. His innings was punctuated by three sixes but it was cut short by Ankit Rajpoot who got him holed out at deep midwicket. Morgan then anchored the lower middle order and saw KKR through to 174 for six in 20 overs.
Brief scores: KKR 174/6 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 47, Eoin Morgan 34 not out; Jofra Archer 2/18) beat RR 137/9 in 20 overs (Tom Curran 54 not out, Jos Buttler 21; Kamlesh Nagarkoti 2/13) by 37 runs’
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