Mumbai: Despite valiant efforts by skipper Shreyas Iyer (85, 51b, 7×4, 4×6) and Australia white ball captain Aaron Finch (58, 28b, 9×4, 2×6) Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) went down to Rajasthan Royals (RR) by seven runs in their IPL encounter here Monday. Batting first RR had scored 217 for five in their 20 overs riding on a brilliant century by Jos Buttler (103, 61b, 9×4, 5×6). Then RR managed to restrict KKR to 210 all out in 19.4 overs.
If it was Buttler with the bat, then it was Yuzvendra Chahal (5/40) who did the trick for RR. The turning point of the match came when Chahal dismissed Venkatesh Iyer and Shreyas in the 17th over of the innings. Till that point KKR were within striking distance of their 218-run victory. However, Chahal’s spell changed all that.
Earlier, Buttler’s dream season just got a bit better after he knocked the stuffing out of a quality KKR attack with a magnificent second IPL hundred this season to put his team in a strong position. Jos Buttler hit all the KKR bowlers out of the park with a six off Umesh Yadav landing into the adjacent tennis courts of Cricket Club of India. He finally got out trying to hook Pat Cummins (1/50), but by then Rajasthan Royals had crossed the 180-run mark.
Buttler added 97 runs for the opening wicket stand with Devdutt Padikkal (24, 18b, 3×4, 1×6). Buttler was then joined by RR skipper Sanju Samson (38, 19b, 3×4, 2×6), who was equally destructive in their 67-run second wicket stand in just 5.4 overs.
None of the KKR bowlers save Sunil Narine (2/21) looked like posing any threat to Buttler, who seems to be walking away with the Orange Cap with an aggregate of 375 runs in six games so far.
Shivam Mavi (1/34) and Umesh started off well during the first two overs primarily because Padikkal was out of sorts. However, once the Buttler show began most of the KKR bowlers were reduced to pedestrians on the park. KKR’s fifth and sixth bowler combinations of Varun Chakravarthy and Andre Russell gave away 59 in their four overs.
Brief scores: Rajasthan Royals 217 for 5 (Jos Buttler 103, Sunil Narine 2/21) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 210 all out in 19.4 overs (Shreyas Iyer 85, Aaron Finch 58, Yuzvendra Chahal 5/40) by seven runs.
