IPL Match 12: Kolkata Knight Riders register a comfortable win to hand RR their first defeat
A superb all-round effort led Kolkata Knight Riders to a comfortable
win over Rajasthan Royals in the 12th Match of IPL 2020 played at
Dubai International Stadium, Dubai on Wednesday.
Rajasthan Royals captain Steve Smith won the toss and
decided to field first. Robin Uthappa dropped a simple catch to give Sunil
Narine reprieve. After that Shubman Gill and Narine provided a steady start for
Kolkata Knight Riders with positive stroke play. Narine hit some lovely shots
to put pressure on RR bowlers. Jaydev Unadkat got the breakthrough dismissing
Narine hitting the inside onto the stumps. KKR openers put on 36 runs in 4.5
overs. Gill struggled initially but made batting look easy. At the end of six
overs, KKR scored 42 for 1.
Nitish Rana and Gill took on Shreyas Gopal and Riyan Parag
with aggressive strokes. At the end of the first timeout, KKR reached 66 for 1.
After the timeout, Gill showed his class and kept on hitting lovely boundaries.
Rahul Tewaita got the big wicket of Nitish Rana giving an easy catch to Parag
at long-off. Rana and Gill added 46 runs for the 2nd wicket. Jofra
Archer bowled with pace and troubled the KKR batsmen. It was amazing bowling
by Archer who took the important wicket of well-set Gill with a return catch.
Andre Russell promoted at number 5 struggled against Archer.
KKR captain Dinesh Karthik fell cheaply with a lovely delivery by Archer.
Russell was severe on Gopal hitting for him sixes. Ankit Rajpoot struck the
most important blow as he dismissed dangerous Russell with an easy catch by
Unadkat at deep midwicket. With the ball hitting Eoin Morgan’s helmet, the
umpires called for the second timeout.
Pat Cummins and Eoin Morgan hit some valuable runs for KKR
putting on 34 runs for the 6th wicket. It was a good end to the
innings as Morgan smashed Tom Curran. KKR posted 174 for 6 at the end of 20
overs.
Chasing 175 runs to win, it was not an ideal start as Pat
Cummins dismissed Rajasthan Royals captain Steve Smith. The youngster Shivam
Mavi and Pat Cummins bowled with the pace not allowing RR batsmen to score runs
easily. Mavi struck by getting rid of in-form Sanju Samson who tried to pull but
gave an easy catch to Narine. Robin Uthappa survived a run-out chance off his
first ball. Pat Cummins bowled with accuracy making life tough for Rajasthan
Royals. At the end of the first six overs, KKR scored 39 for 2.
Shivam Mavi took the main wicket of Jos Buttler to put enough
pressure on RR. Nagarkoti struck twice in his first over dismissing Uthappa and
Riyan Parag leaving RR in big trouble. At the end of the first timeout, Rajasthan
Royals made 50 for 5.
Rahul Tewaita's hero of the last match was dismissed by Varun Chakravarthy
making it impossible for Rajasthan Royals. Shreyas Gopal also fell cheaply with
a review for caught behind. The umpire gave it not out, Karthik decided to review, the decision was overturned hitting the gloves. Kamlesh Nagarkoti produced a
brilliant running catch to dismiss Archer.
At the end of the second timeout, RR looked in deep trouble at
90 for 8. Tom Curran enjoyed himself and kept on hitting lovely shots to
complete his fifty off 35 balls. Rajasthan Royals ended the innings on 137 for
9 in 20 overs.
Kolkata Knight Riders 174 for 6 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill
47, Morgan 34*, Archer 2/18) beat Rajasthan Royals 137 for 9 in 20 overs (Tom
Curran 54*, Buttler 21, Mavi 2/20, Varun Chakravarthy 2/25) by 37 runs.
With this win, Kolkata Knight Riders moved up to 2nd
in the points table. For his superb spell of 2 for 20 in 4 overs, Shivam Mavi
was awarded the man of the match.
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