Rajasthan Royals 134 for 4 (Samson 42*, Chakravarthy 2-32) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 133 for 9 (Tripathi 36, Morris 4-23) by six wickets
A clinical performance from Sanju Samson and Co. on Saturday help them beat KKR by six wickets to earn their second win of the season. Chris Morris (4/23) and Sanju Samson (42*) lead the way for Rajasthan Royals in low scoring game.
Kolkata Knight Riders would be very disappointed to have managed only 133 runs in the first innings on a batting paradise in Mumbai which Rajasthan Royals chased down the total in 18.5 overs.
Here’s a look at three major talking points from the game:
Lack of Intent from KKR
Kolkata Knight Riders lacked intent right from the start of the innings. Nitish Rana and Shubman Gill didn’t feel the need to play aggressively on a surface that was perfectly suited to attack right from the onset. The duo scored 23 runs in the first 30 deliveries. After 11 overs, KKR had lost four wickets for just 62.
Dinesh Karthik and Rahul Tripathi, on the other hand, were trying to take the game as deep as possible with Andre Russell to follow. He finally arrived in the 16th over but couldn’t do much damage and got out Morris for just 9 runs. KKR in the end could only manage to score 133 in 20 overs.
Rajasthan bowlers did their homework
Be it Mustafizur, Sakariya or Morris, all of them bowled well and hit the right lengths. Chetan Sakariya once again started brilliantly with the ball, not giving any room to the batsmen.
Mustafizur was brilliant with the cutters and Morris too was impressed with his pinpoint yorkers. The duo didn’t let KKR finish strongly in the death overs as the likes of Cummins, Karthik and Russell struggled to put the bowls away.
All in all, it was an impressive show with the ball. The bowlers set up RR’s win and deserve all the credit.
Sanju Samson’s Matured Knock
Sanju Samson once again blew hot and cold during the start of the season. A heart-warming century was followed by a string of low scores as consistency continued to hurt his batting prowess this season as well. However, the RR skipper came up with a second valuable knock in his fifth game.
Knowing that RR don’t need a big total to chase, Samson played was a lot more caution during his knock and made sure he stays the end and finish the game. He played a valuable of 42 runs off 41 balls, including 2 fours and 1 six. His knock helped RR chased down the target with 7 balls to spare in the end.
Questions To Be Answered
Shubman Gill had a great season for KKR last season. However, he hasn’t been able to replicate the same this year. The KKR opener has failed to give great starts to the side. Should he be replaced with another Indian batsman?
To strengthen the bowling department, should KKR add Lockie Ferguson in the eleven in their next game?
What Lies Ahead for Both Sides
Rajasthan has made a great comeback and would be confident of turning their fortunes around this season. They will face Mumbai Indians in their next game on Thursday.
Having won one game out of 5, KKR wouldn’t lose hope and is likely to come out strongly in their next game against Delhi Capitals on Thursday.
Records Broken
1. Rahul Tripathi now has 1,115 runs in the IPL, getting past the tally of Matthew Hayden (1,107).
2. Chris Morris has equalled the tally of former spinner Pragyan Ojha in terms of wickets. He has now 89 wickets to his name at an average of 23.38.
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