KKR Vs RR Match Summary:- Chris Lynn scored his first half-century of the tournament as KKR win the match against Rajasthan Royals by eight wickets on Sunday. On a pitch which had no pace at all, Steven Smith played almost half of the overs of Rajasthan Royals, guiding his team a competitive total of 139 on a slow wicket. The Australian captain struck seven fours and one six in his impressive knock of 73 runs off 59 deliveries.
On a pitch, where, the ball wasn’t coming on nicely and given the longer boundaries, Rajasthan Royals batsmen succumbed to impressive bowling performance from KKR bowlers. However, Smith stuck to his end and made sure he took his team to a reasonable total in the end.
Playing against Piyush Chawla and Prasidh Krishna in the power play, the Royals didn’t start too well, having lost Rahane only in the second over of the match. However, Jos Buttler and Steven Smith then resurrected the innings, though, runs were still hard to come by. The duo was striking not more than run-a-ball as RR could score only 56 runs in the first ten overs.
In the eleventh over of the innings, Buttler started to take on the debutant Harry Gurney, hitting him for a six on his fourth delivery of the match, however, in an attempt to hit consecutive sixes, he found Shubhman Gill at the cow-corner only to go back to the pavilion on 37 off 34 deliveries.
Playing his first match of Indian Premier League, Gurney proved to be the most successful bowler for KKR on Sunday, who took two crucial wickets, giving only 25 runs in his four overs. Other bowlers, be it spinners or seamers bowled equally well.
To be honest, Royals needed someone for a late flourish in the end but failed. Stokes coming in the 15th over of the innings could only score seven runs off 14 deliveries, as 139 proved too less for a powerful KKR line up.
KKR CHASED DOWN THE TOTAL WITH SIX OVERS LEFT TO PLAY
What seemed like a sluggish wicket, given how the Royals played, where the ball wasn’t coming on nicely to the bat, Kolkata Knight Riders’ openers Sunil Naraine and Chris Lynn hammered RR all-round the ground, making full use of the power play overs. Chasing a modest 139 run total, the duo collected as many as 65 runs in the first six overs, and in the process, dampening the spirits of the Royals.
In contrast to KKR, RR bowlers bowled much fuller, giving away too many runs at the start. Chris Lynn produced another fine inning for KKR, who smacked 50 runs off 32 deliveries. While Sunil Narine’s assault included three sixes in his innings of 24 off nine balls. KKR eventually chased the total with 6 overs left to play.
- Rajasthan Royals: 139/3 in 20 overs
- Kolkata Knight Riders: 140/2 in 13.5 overs
- Man Of The Match: Harry Gurney
