IPL 2018, RR vs KKR: 5 Talking Points

Rajasthan Royals (RR) returned to their home ground which has been a fortress for them. They won 9 games in a row heading into this game against Kolkata Knight Riders( KKR). RR came into this match after defeating RCB and KKR dominated their match against DD.

It is a ground where the home team's captain Ajinkya Rahane has a tremendous record. He has an average of 44.5 in 26 games. He along with Sanju Samson hoped to make use of the home conditions to carry forward the positive momentum for RR.

KKR after a couple of disappointing performances got the team combination bang on and put on a complete team performance against the Delhi Daredevils. They would know what challenged await them when they take on a formidable RR at home and would just at doing things right.

Both teams remained unchanged from their previous games, emphasizing on the confidence and clarity with which both teams head into this match.

After posting a below par 160 runs, KKR went about their chase in a very calm, controlled manner. After losing Chris Lynn early, the other batsmen Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa, Nitish Rana and the skipper Dinesh Karthik steered KKR to a comfortable 7 wicket win to continue their winning streak.

Here’s looking at 5 talking points from the RR vs KKR match:

---

#5 Ajinkya Rahane looked really comfortable in tough conditions

On a pitch which was low, slow and was assisting the spinners, Ajinkya Rahane was sublime. He just loves to play at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium at Jaipur and this game was no different.

With his opening partner D’ Arcy Short struggling to rotate the strike and push the scoring rate against the spinners, Ajinkya Rahane played the role of the enforcer, something he’s not used to doing.

He gauged the conditions and after getting in he attacked the spinners and caused some worry for DK. He decided to attack Sunil Narine and thrashed the Windies spinner for four batsmen in an over.

It was a real blow for the Royals to lose Rahane where he looked so comfortable in a pitch where the other batsmen found it rather hard to get in. Batsmen were hardly able to attain a strike rate of 100, but Ajinkya Rahane finished on 36 of just 18 balls.

It took a smart stumping from his opposition captain Dinesh Karthik to get rid of him which certainly stemmed the flow of runs for RR.

#4 D’Arcy Short’s struggles against spin curtail the Royals

D’Arcy Short came into this IPL with a huge reputation of someone who can demolish bowlers right from the start of an innings. He was scintillating in the BBL recently for the Hobart Hurricanes based on which Rajasthan Royals showed faith in him and bought him at the player’s auction.

He is used to the fast, bouncy pitches on offer in home conditions in Australia. He looked really good for Australia in his T20I debut in familiar conditions in New Zealand and Australia. But his vulnerability and struggles to play spin would be tested when he plays in the IPL.

And after three failures, it was good to see the Royals show faith in this young talent. But sadly, he just never looked comfortable playing spin. KKR bought on the spinners right away, thereby never allowing Short to get going. He ate away too many deliveries.

He never could get momentum into his innings. He couldn’t rotate the strike which disrupted the flow of the RR innings. And it’s fair to say that despite D’Arcy Short managing to get past the 100 strike rate at the end of the innings, it affected the flow of the RR batting line up as every other batsman had to force the issue right from the start.

#3 KKR’s spinners deliver as a team on a helpful pitch

On what was a helpful pitch for the spinners, KKR’s spinners delivered a complete team performance. The decision to bring the spinners in right from the start of the innings paid rich dividends.

Kuldeep Yadav and Piyush Chawla were really effective as they never allowed the RR batsmen to get away. One of the main reasons for the total of RR only being 160 runs was Piyush Chawla' s spell of 4-0-18-1 which won him the man of the match award.

With D’Arcy Short struggling against spin, the likes of Piyush Chawla and Kuldeep Yadav made sure that the power play overs belonged to KKR. And not only them, Dinesh Karthik bought on the part-timer who rose to fame as a bowler by dismissing Virat Kohli and AB De Villiers- Nitish Rana to continue applying the pressure on the RR batting lineup.

Despite Sunil Narine having an off day conceding 48 runs in his four overs, the visitors ensured constant pressure was put on the hosts through the spin. RR’s batsmen enjoyed the pace on the ball so it was a very good decision to unleash more spin on them to curtail them to a below par total of 160 runs.

#2 Robin Uthappa finally comes to the party in this IPL

Among the worries of the KKR fans and team, management was that their frontline batsman Robin Uthappa hadn’t come to the party as yet. With KKR having a new look side and having the likes of Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine at the top of the order, the probability of him having to stabilize the innings is high.

He has got off to starts but has got out at the wrong times in previous games. Even today, he came in after Chris Lynn was dismissed for a duck. He immediately started to attack the bowlers, He was assisted by the pace on offer on a relatively slow pitch.

Robin Uthappa got his timing, placement and shot selection spot on today. He was the enforcer, was helped by Sunil Narine’s attacking stroke play. Their partnership ensured that the momentum was with KKR all through the chase. His form augers well for KKR’s fortunes for the remainder of this IPL.

#1 Rajasthan Royal’s bowling lets them down

Rajasthan Royals are a team which relies on their fast bowlers to win games for them. The likes of Ben Laughlin, Ben Stokes, Dhawal Kulkarni have got the important breakthroughs for Ajinkya Rahane. The pitches on offer so far have been suitable for their fast bowlers to deliver.

But surprisingly in their fortress at Jaipur, the pitch tonight was low and slow. This pitch required good, attacking spinners to support the fast bowlers. Krishnappa Gowtham impressed but he didn’t get the support of the other bowlers.

The big price tags on Jaydev Unadkat and Ben Stokes haven’t paid dividends for RR. Jaydev has been very expensive and unimpressive this season, Ben Stokes has not managed to get the crucial wickets for his side.

It could be a one-off game where the bowling attack lacked the firepower to threaten the opposition as usually the pitches are very true, offer more bounce and swing a bit at the start of the innings. It won’t be fair to write-off Rajasthan Royals after this performance but there are certainly some signs of worry after this game against KKR.