Match Report


Riding on a couple of brilliant partnerships, Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday defeated Rajasthan Royals by 7 wickets in their own backyard with 7 balls to spare. Third win in five games has now placed the Knight Riders at the top of the table for the first time this season.


Chasing a moderate target of 161, KKR lost explosive opener Chris Lynn for a duck in the first over itself but Robin Uthappa (36-ball 48) along with Sunil Narine (35 off 25 balls) kept the required run-rate under control.


Nitish Rana (35* off 27 balls) and skipper Dinesh Karthik (42* off 23 balls) carried on the solid start provided by the Uthappa-Narine duo. 61-run partnership between the two eventually took KKR past the required total in the nineteenth over.


For Rajasthan, wickets at regular intervals was the key but bowlers failed to create the impact.  Krishnappa Gowtham (4-0-23-2) was the most successful bowler for the home team. Jaydev Unadkat who was the most expensive Indian bowler at the auctions leaked too many runs. Apart from Gowtham, the other five bowlers went wicketless in the match.


Nitish Rana was awarded with Man of the Match award for his all-round performance. 


Knight Riders will next play against Punjab on 21st April in Kolkata while Royals will lock horns against Chennai Super Kings on 20th April in Chennai.


RR batting summary


Brilliant rotation of bowlers from skipper Dinesh Karthik combined with economical spells from spinner Piyush Chawla and Kuldeep Yadav helped Kolkata Knight Riders restrict Rajasthan Royals to a moderate total of 160 at Sawai Mansingh stadium, Jaipur.


After winning the toss Karthik invited Royals to bat first in their own fortress. Spin duo of Piyush and Kuldeep started off the proceedings brilliantly for the visitors giving away only 9 runs in the first three overs of the powerplay. Though Rahane collected 18 runs in the fourth overs but D'Arcy Short’s sluggish (44 off 43 balls) knock created pressure for the batsmen at the other end.


After Rahane got out courtesy a brilliant stumping from wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik for a 19-ball 36, other batsmen too succumbed trying to accelerate the run-rate.






Last match hero Sanju Samson (7) failed to fire. Post Samson, middle order disappointed the home fans as Rahul Tripathi (15), Ben Stokes (14) and Krishnappa Gowtham (12) walked back after getting initial starts. Towards the end Jos Buttler (24 off 18 balls) helped Rajasthan reach 160 for 8 in their quota of 20 overs.


For Kolkata, Piyush Chawla (4-0-18-1) and Kuldeep Yadav (4-0-23-1) bowled brilliant spells drying up the runs for Rajasthan. Nitish Rana and Tom Curran chipped in with two wickets each. Mystery spinner Sunil Narine although got whacked, giving away 48 runs in 4 overs.


Playing XI and Team News


Rajasthan Royals: Ajinkya Rahane (capt), D'Arcy Short, Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, Rahul Tripathi, Jos Buttler (wk), K Gowtham, Shreyas Gopal, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jaydev Unadkat, Ben Laughlin.


Playing XI for Rajasthan Royals remain the same


Kolkata Knight Riders: Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik(w/c), Shubman Gill, Andre Russell, Tom Curran, Shivam Mavi, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav.


Kolkata Knight Riders too have opted not to fiddle with the winning combination.


Pitch Report and Toss


In the Match 15 of the IPL 2018, hosts Rajasthan Royals take on Kolkata Knight Riders in the Pink City. The pitch at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur looks beautiful with a tinge of greenness. Michael Clarke in the pitch report says it will be a belter of a track for the batsmen. Visitors Kolkata have won the toss and opted to ball first.


Preview                   


On paper, both the teams may rank same but it will be safe to say it’s going to be a battle between Rajasthan Royals’ batting and Kolkata Knight Riders’ bowling when they meet in Rajasthan on Wednesday.


Royals have turned it around with back-to-back wins after Sunrisers thrashed them in their opener.


They pipped Delhi Daredevils by 19 runs in a rain hit encounter and then travelled away to post a convincing 19-run victory over star-studded Royal Challengers Bangalore.


The undisputed star of the game was Sanju Samon who hit a blistering a 45-ball 92 and Royals would expect him to fire again.


They were able to iron out few of their flaws. Royals' batting clicked with Samson leading the charge and skipper Ajinkya Rahane too making a useful contribution. Their bowling though remains a thorn in the flesh. None of their bowlers are in the top 20 of IPL’s most economic bowlers. They did sustain the pressure of onslaught by big hitters like Virat Kohli and A B de Villiers in the last match but the likes of Stokes and Unadkat are far from their best.


They are on their home turf where they have seldom lost matches but they would still be wary of  KKR who outplayed Delhi Daredevils rather comfortably last night for their second win in four games.


With Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine at the top and big hitters like Dinesh Karthik,  Robin Uthappa, Nitish Rana  and Andre Russell in the middle, KKR have enough fire power and depth.


Their bowling too has the right balance with the deceptive Narine, the current purple cap holder in the tournament. Wily old horse Piyush Chawla and Kuldeep Yadav are capable of weaving a web around any batting side.


Pacer Shivam Mavi, who rose to stardom during the recent U-19 World Cup, and Russell provide the medium pace variety to KKR.


However, the tight schedule of the tournament has left KKR so drained that they have preferred to rest on the eve of the match instead of holding a practice session.


The pink city, after a two and half hour rain interruption in the previous match,  is under a dry and hot spell. The wicket here is a sporting one but a little bit of dryness would help the KKR spin department.


Squads:


Rajasthan Royals: Heinrich Klassen, Benjamin Stokes, Jaydev Unadkat, Sanju Samson, Jofra Archer, Krishnappa Gowtham, Jos Buttler, Ajinkya Rahane, Darcy Short, Rahul Tripathi, Dhawal Kulkarni, Zahir Khan Pakteen, Ben Laughlin, Stuart Binny, Dushmantha Chameera, Anureet Singh, Aryaman Vikram Birla, Midhun S, Shreyas Gopal, Prashant Chopra, Jatin Saxena, Ankit Sharma, Mahipal Lomror.


Kolkata Knight Riders: Dinesh Karthik (c and WK), Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa, Kuldeep Yadav, Piyush Chawla, Nitish Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Shivam Mavi, Mitchell Johnson, Shubman Gill, R Vinay Kumar, Rinku Singh, Cameron Delport, Javon Searless, Apoorv Wankhade, Ishank Jaggi and Tom Curran.