IPL 2021, KKR vs RR: Who won yesterday’s match?

Rajasthan Royals (RR) came up with a horror batting show for the second game in a row, going down to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 86 runs on Thursday in Sharjah. Set to chase a challenging 172 in match number 54 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, RR folded up for 85, which (believe it or not) could have been far worse but for Rahul Tewatia’s 44!

If you thought their performance against Mumbai the other day was abysmal, RR lost half their side for 33, before the eighth over, in the chase against KKR. Shakib Al Hasan sent back Yashasvi Jaiswal (0) in the first over as the batter made a mess of his reverse sweep and was clean bowled. RR skipper Sanju Samson (1) then gently flicked Shivam Mavi (4/21) to his opposite number at midwicket.

Lockie Ferguson (3/18) claimed two in one over in his comeback match to reduce RR to 13 for 4. Liam Livingstone (6) was late on a pull and was easily caught. Anuj Rawat (0) was trapped in front as he missed his flick. To make matters worse for RR, he wasted a review as well.

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Glenn Phillips (8) and Shivam Dube (18) also fell in one over to Mavi as both batters were knocked over by the KKR pacer. After eight overs, RR’s score read a shabby 34 for 6. Chris Morris failed to open his account on comeback as he missed a sweep off a full delivery from Varun Chakravarthy (1/14) and was trapped plumb in front of the stumps.

Tewatia gave RR something to cheer about, taking on Mavi and hitting him for three fours in an over. He also slogged Chakravarthy for a six. While Tewatia continued to enjoy himself, Ferguson had a third when he sent back Jaydev Unadkat (6), whose slog ended up in the hands of deep point.

Chetan Sakariya (1) was run out following a mix up with Tewatia, who was the last man out. The all-rounder bottom-edged Mavi onto his stumps as RR’s innings ended in just 16.1 overs!

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KKR post impressive 171 for 4 batting first

KKR opener Shubman Gill. Pic: IPLT20.COM

KKR put up a good batting show to finish with 171 for 4 against RR after being sent into bat. Kolkata’s score was built around a solid opening stand of 79 between Shubman Gill (56) and Venkatesh Iyer (38).

After progressing slowly to 20 for no loss after four overs, Gill opened up by going down the wicket to Sakariya and smashing him over his head for a six. Iyer ended the over by crunching one past mid-off. There was a lull again for a few overs after which Iyer decided to take matters into his own hands and smashed Unadkat for two sixes. The first one was swatted over deep midwicket and the second launched over the bowler’s head. KKR progressed to 69 for no loss at the halfway stage.

The 11th over began with Gill swinging Tewatia for a one-handed six over deep midwicket. However, Tewatia broke the opening stand in the same over, cleaning up Iyer as the KKR opener attempted a premeditated reverse sweep.

Nitish Rana came in and smashed Glenn Phillips for a four and a six before he holed out for a five-ball 12. Rahul Tripathi was dropped by Sanju Samson early in his innings. He looked threatening after that, smashing Shivam Dube for consecutive boundaries.

At the other end, Gill brought up his second fifty in a row, bottom-edging Sakariya for four behind the wickets. However, he fell soon after, slogging Chris Morris to cover. Sakariya then cleaned up Tripathi for 21 as he hit one across the line.

A couple of big hits from Dinesh Karthik and Eoin Morgan helped KKR cross 170. In the 17th over, Karthik pulled Mustafizur Rahman for a six over midwicket. Morgan sent the penultimate ball of the innings, bowled by Morris, over square leg for a maximum.

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IPL 2021, KKR vs RR: Who was the Man of the Match?

Gill was impressive again for KKR, scoring a fluent half-century while Iyer contributed an important 38.

When Kolkata bowled, Mavi was absolutely sensational with figures of 4 for 21. Pacer Ferguson made an impressive comeback from injury, claiming three crucial wickets. Chakravarthy was impactful yet again with figures of 1 for 14.

From RR’s side, there was hardly anything noteworthy. Sakariya finished with 1 for 23 from his four overs. Tewatia had a decent game, scoring 44 and picking up a wicket.

KKR pacer Mavi was picked as the man of the match for running through RR’s fragile batting line-up.