A huge win for Kolkata Knight Riders over Rajasthan Royals as good as confirmed their spot in the Playoffs. KKR now have 14 points with a net run rate of +0.587. To pip them, Mumbai Indians first have to bat first against Sunrisers Hyderabad, then win the match by approximately 171 runs.
Rajasthan won the toss and decided to bowl. Lockie Ferguson returned for Kolkata, but Andre Russell still remained out due to injury. Rajasthan brought in in Chris Morris, Anuj Rawat, and Jaydev Unadkat.
On a slow track, the Kolkata openers took their time to settle. Shubman Gill and Venkatesh Iyer played carefully, hitting only three fours and a six to reach 34/0 in the Powerplay. Then they took 10 runs from the seventh over, bowled by Jaydev Unadkat. Iyer hit two more sixes in the 10th over.
The 79-run partnership was broken by Rahul Tewatia, who bowled Iyer for 38. Nitish Rana came out all guns blazing and hit a four and six before hitting out to the deep for a 5-ball 12. KKR did not slow down, and raced to 127/2 by the 15th over as Gill completed his second consecutive fifty. At the other end, Rahul Tripathi got a 21-ball 31.
Gill was finally dismissed in the 16th over for 56, becoming Morris’ first wicket of the UAE leg. Chetan Sakariya continued to impress and finished with 1-23 in 4 overs. Dinesh Karthik and Eoin Morgan batted for the rest of the innings and a 16-run 20th over pushed them to 171/4, the highest score at the Sharjah Cricket Ground this season.
Rajasthan had a poor start, when Yashasvi Jaiswal was bowled round the legs by Shakib Al Hasan in the first over. By then, any chance of them qualifying was gone. Sanju Samson was dismissed off the first ball of the second over, bowled by Shivam Mavi. They lost Liam Livingstone and Anuj Rawat in the fourth over, to Lockie Ferguson, limped to 17/4 in their Powerplay, and never recovered.
Shivam Dube hit two sixes in the seventh over, off Sunil Narine, but Mavi returned to bowl his second over and got both Glenn Phillips and Dube in the same over. Rajasthan were left tottering at 34/6. Soon they were reduced to 35/7 as Varun Chakravarthy joined the party with his first wicket.
Last year, Rahul Tewatia had played his memorable knock on the same ground. This time he got 44, with little support at the other end. Unadkat became Ferguson’s third wicket, hitting to Shakib at deep point. Sakariya provided company for more than four overs before being run out for just 1 thanks to another brilliant piece of fielding by Shakib.
The match was over by the first ball of the next over when Tewatia played on to give Mavi his best ever IPL bowling figure (4-21). KKR won by 76 runs.
Brief scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 171/4 in 20 overs (Gill 56; Tewatia 1-11) beat Rajasthan Royals 85 in 16.1 overs (Tewatia 44; Mavi 4-21) by 86 runs. Player of the Match: Shivam Mavi.