UTHAPPA ROCKS AFTER SPINNERS RESTRICT RAJ
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS GO ON TOP OF TABLE
JAIPUR: A second-wicket stand of 69 runs between Robin Uthappa (48) and Sunil Narine (35) put the Kolkata Knight Riders on course for victory in their Indian Premier League (IPL) clash against Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.
Nitish Rana (35 not out) and Dinesh Karthik (42 not out) were at the crease as the Knights won by seven wickets with seven deliveries to spare, their third victory in IPL 2018.
The Knights suffered a hiccup in their chase of Royals’ 161 runs as opener Chris Lynn was bowled for a duck the third delivery. But Narine and Uthappa steadied the ship for the visiting team.
The duo provided KKR the platform to chase before Narine was run out in the ninth over. Uthappa looked like he would take the Knights to the end but he too got out while trying to go for a maximum, caught brilliantly by Ben Stokes at the ropes.
The knocks of openers Ajinkya Rahane (36) and D’Arcy Short (44) took Rajasthan Royals to 160/8 after being asked to bat on a slow track by Dinesh Karthik.
The visitors started the proceedings with two wrist spinners. Piyush Chawla (1/18) and Kuldeep Yadav (1/23) bowled well to restrict Royals to nine runs off the first three overs. Narine (0/48) was introduced in the fourth over and Rahane decided to attack. The Royals skipper hit four consecutive boundaries, changing the momentum.
Pace was introduced and Rahane went after Shivam Mavi (1/40) too, hitting the teenager for the first six of the game. Just when Rahane was looking dangerous, he was run out by an instinctive Karthik after the RR skipper was beaten against Nitish Rana’s part-time off-spin, providing the Knights a breakthrough in the seventh over.
Sanju Samson (7) was caught cheaply and KKR had wrested command of the match again by slowing down the hosts.
Opener Short, who hasn’t had an IPL 2018 to boast of, was playing second fiddle to Rahane. But he slowly began accelerating. Short started targeting Narine after getting into groove. But he too perished while nearing his maiden IPL half-century.
The wicket slowed down and the ball kept low as well. Star allrounder Ben Stokes (14), Rahul Tripathi (15), K Gowtham (12) also got out after getting starts.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler (24 not out) provided some impetus for Royals at the end to take them beyond 150.
For Knight Riders, Yadav and Chawla kept the run rate in check but Narine and Mavi proved expensive. English all-rounder Tom Curran (2/19) also picked up a couple of wickets as Royals kept losing wickets in the death overs.
It was KKR’s first win away from home, after beating Royal ChallengersBangaloreandDelhi Daredevils at home.