A clinical all-round performance with bat and ball helped Kolkata Knight Riders beat Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets in Match 47 of IPL 2022 at the Wankhede Stadium here on Monday.
Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson rued his batters' inability to score boundaries in the death overs. "I think the wicket was a bit slow and they bowled really well, but with the batting we have, I would have liked to score a few more boundaries at the end. I think we were short 15-20 runs," said Samson in the post-match presentation on Monday.
Though his team lost, there were some positives for the Rajasthan Royals skipper as he managed to score his second half-century of this IPL. Samson (54) said he was troubled by a niggle but has recovered from it.
"I have had a niggle the last few games but I'm recovering well and (my back) is fine," he said.
Match Review
After Kolkata Knight Riders bowlers made full use of the conditions, bowled good line and length and restricted Rajasthan Royals to a modest 152/5 in 20 overs, skipper Shreyas Iyer (34 off 32), Nitish Rana (48 not out off 37) and Rinku Singh (42 not out off 23) batted sensibly in the low-scoring match to seal a fine win for Kolkata Knight Riders.
Rajasthan Royals could manage a below-par 152/5 in 20 overs thanks mainly to a half-century by skipper Sanju Samson (54) and a breezy cameo by Shimron Hetmyer (27 off 13).
Iyer and Rana Shared a 60-run partnership for the third wicket and Rana then added 66 runs for the fourth wicket stand with Rinku Singh as Kolkata Knight Riders reached 158/3 in 19.1 overs to register a comfortable win.
The win took KKR to eight points from 10 matches as they occupy the seventh position, hanging on to slim hopes of making it to the play-offs. Rajasthan Royals remained in the third position with 12 points from 10 games, still in a good position to battle it out for a place in the next stage.
Chasing a target of 153, Kolkata never looked in trouble thanks to the well-controlled innings by skipper Shreyas Iyer and Nitish Rana, who shared a 60-run partnership for the second wicket off 43 deliveries that kept their hopes alive.
They had got together after KKR had stumbled to 32/2 in the power-play, losing Aaron Finch (4), playing on to get bowled once again, this time off young Kuldeep Sen, and his new partner Baba Indrajith (15 off 16) early.
Iyer and Rana took their time to build the innings, though they managed to keep the run rate in control. Anyway, they didn't had a lot to chase and they managed that by hitting timely fours. Iyer blasted spinner Yuzvendra Chahal for a bit six in the 12th over to bring up fifty of the partnership.
He had started off by hitting Kuldeep Sen for a four off the first ball he faced but later played without any hurry to build a platform from which Rana and Rinku Singh could lead the team to victory.
Rana top-scored for Knight Riders with an unbeaten 48 off 37 deliveries and along with Rinku Singh figured in an unfinished 66-run partnership for the fourth wicket to help Knight Riders romp home to victory with five deliveries to spare.
Rana and Rinku Singh smashed 17 runs off the 19th over bowled by Prasidh Krishna to make things further easier for KKR.
Brief scores: Rajasthan Royals 152/5 in 20 overs (Jos Buttler 22, Sanju Samson 54, Shimron Hetmyer 27 not out; Tim Southee 2/46) lost to Kolkata Knight Riders 158/3 in 19.1 overs (Shreyas Iyer 34, Nitish Rana 48 not out, Rinku Singh 42 not out; Kuldeep Sen 1/28, Trent Boult 1/25) by seven wickets.
(With inputs from IANS)
