IPL 2018, KKR vs RR: 5 talking points

Srikant
Jos ButtlerEngland Rajasthan Royals Cricket IPL
Buttler missed out on his sixth consecutive IPL half-century but ensured that his side got off to a good start

Kolkata Knight Riders made home advantage count at the Eden Gardens as they got the better of Rajasthan Royals by six wickets, to all but probably end Ajinkya Rahane's side's chances of making it to the play-off stages of the competition.

Royals started off brilliantly, scoring 59 runs off the first four overs before a batting collapse meant that they ended up with just 143 runs on the board after being put into bat.

The hosts chased down the target comfortably to make it 7 wins out of thirteen matches, to go to the third spot in the IPL 2018 points table.

Here are the 5 major talking points from tonight's match.


#5 Buttler smashes Mavi for a 28-run over

KKR skipper Dinesh Karthik won the toss and sent Royals into bat, and it was almost the perfect start as Shivam Mavi got the ball to bounce off the surface, forcing a top edge off Rahul Tripathi with the very first delivery of the match.

However, Nitish Rana dropped a chance at slips, allowing the Rajasthan openers to get away and, they did so in some style. Both Tripathi and in-form Jos Buttler raced off to a flier, reaching the 50-run mark off just 3.2 overs.

The highlight of that onslaught was the 28-run over by Buttler of Mavi with the England international taking apart the young Indian rookie for four boundaries and two sixes in his second over.

#4 Rajasthan Royals' batting collapse

Ajinkya Rahane IPL Cricket
Ajinkya Rahane has had a disappointing IPL 2018 and his terrible form continued tonight

The way Royals started their batting, it seemed they would reach the 200-run mark easily, but KKR pulled things back brilliantly to dismiss the visitors for just 143.

Andre Russell was the one who got the all-important breakthrough, dismissing Tripathi when the Royals total read 63/0 off just 4.4 overs.

But after that, it was all KKR as the Royals kept losing wickets in a hurry undoing the brilliant work done by the openers.

While the KKR bowlers and skipper Dinesh Karthik played their part in the comeback, some of the Royals batsmen have only themselves to blame, not least of all, the skipper himself who lost his stumps after attempting a reverse sweep off Kuldeep Yadav.

Buttler followed soon after, missing out on six fifties in a row and that truly signaled that the momentum had shifted and KKR didn't look back from that point.

#3 Kuldeep Yadav spins a web around the Royals

Kuldeep Yadav KKR IPL
Kuldeep Yadav picked up four top-order wickets to put in his best performance of IPL 2018 thus far

Ahead of the match tonight, former Indian skipper and head coach Anil Kumble was speaking about how Kuldeep Yadav hasn't been at his best in the IPL, and the 23-year-old responded in the best possible fashion with his impeccable spell of bowling tonight.

Yadav picked up four wickets, conceding just 20 runs off his 4 overs. He was on the top of his game tonight as the Royals batsmen found it hard to pick him all night long.

While Rahane' wicket was a gift, Yadav picked up the all-important wicket of Jos Buttler and then the dangerous Ben Stokes, before he finished things off with the wicket of Stuart Binny.

He deservedly picked up the Man-of-the-Match award for his role in turning around the match's fortunes for his side.

#2 Chris Lynn's classy knock

Chris Lynn KKR IPL
Chris Lynn held back his natural game to play a highly mature against innings against Royals tonight

Chris Lynn has built up a reputation as a big-hitter. It was brilliant to see the Australian give a glimpse of his abilities to play a mature inning for his side when required.

Sunil Narine made merry of Royals' decision to give the first over to Krishnappa Gowtham, scoring 21 runs off 5 balls but was dismissed soon after by Ben Stokes, followed by Robin Uthappa.

The ball was turning and Ish Sodhi was looking threatening in particular before picking up Nitish Rana after a referral.

But, amidst all this, Lynn was playing well, especially for a batsman who is considered not so great against spin bowling.

The required run-rate being on the lower side certainly helped Lynn but he was smart in not gifting his wicket away and played every ball to its merit before falling 5 runs short of his half-century.

He may not have finished the job for his side but ensured that he had put KKR in a position of strength before he departed.

#1 Royals gets it wrong with their approach

Shane Warne Ajinkya Rahane IPL
Warne and Rahane has to take the blame for some shoddy decision making

When you are defending a small total like Rajasthan Royals were doing tonight, the last thing you would want is the opposition to make a strong start in their run-chase.

Royals allowed KKR to do just that, and it was the baffling decision to bowl Krishnappa Gowtham in the very first over that cost, as Sunil Narine pounced on the opportunity to score 21 runs off the over.

Not surprisingly, Narine fell soon after, with Ben Stokes making good use of the short ball to exploit the West Indian's weak spot. But the damage had already been done.

Ajinkya Rahane also failed in using his bowlers wisely as he held back their two best bowlers - Ish Sodhi and Joffra Archer - more than they should have been.

They made the impact when called upon but it was too little too late as KKR won the match comfortably in the end.

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Edited by Akhilesh Tirumala