Kolkata: Rajasthan Royals rode on opener Jos Buttler's blistering 107 off just 60 balls to register a memorable 2 wicket win over the Kolkata Knight Riders in their Indian Premier League (IPL) game at the iconic Eden Gardens here on Tuesday.
It was the Buttler show in high-scoring thriller, which went down the wire. Buttler's hundred overshadowed Sunil Narine's century as Rajasthan won on the last ball after the Englishman took a cheeky single off Varun Chakravarthy. Buttler was named as the Player of the Match. This was also the highest chase in the history of the cash-rich tournament.
The win has helped the Sanju Samson-led side stay at the top of the points table.
Live updates start from here
Live updates from the second innings
It was Jos Buttler show as he sparred no bowler en route his magnificent hundred and ensured that his side bagged two crucial points. Buttler made the difficult chase look easy and upped the ante after the 14th over. The Englishman hammered as many as nine boundaries and six sixes as he toyed with the KKR attack. Rajasthan was reeling at 186-8 and then Buttler in the company of Avesh Khan (0 not out) took the team home. He brought down the equation to nine runs off the final over and smashed a maximum off the first ball of the 20th over. He then played three dot balls, then ran two runs and on the final ball ran a single to give his side a win, which will be remembered for ages.
Varun Chakaravarthy struck with back-to-back wickets dismissing Ashwin and Hetmyer. Ashwin holed out at deep midwicket while the latter tried to drive a slow loopy delivery but was caught inside the 30-yard circle. Only four runs from the 13th over and the chasing side need to score at around 14 runs per over.
RR Batters are continuing their attacking approach throughout the game. Riyan Parag was smashing big hits to all areas of the ground but he was cleaned up by Harshit Rana with a slower cutter on a score of 34 runs from 14 deliveries. Narine then dismissed Dhruv Jurel via LBW and Buttler is on the crease but he is yet to find his rhythm. Ashwin has been promoted in the batting lineup.
RR need to score at 10 runs per over and they have been on attack right from the start. However, Vaibhav Arora dismissed Jaiswal in the second over of the innings only as he bowled a full delivery outside off and the batter edged behind the stumps to walk back to the pavilion. Also, Harshit Rana’s first over was impressive with the seam movement he generated and also dismissed Samson as he mistimed an aerial shot towards mid-on. RR are scoring at a healthy run rate but they have lost two wickets early in the game.
Live updates from the first innings
Narine has gone crazy and he smashing the ball all around the park now. He smacked Chahal for two sixes and two fours in the 16th over and also completed his century in 49 deliveries. Avesh Khan then dismissed Russell with a delivery too away from the off stump and the batter tried to reach it but was caught in the deep. A sublime knock from Narine came to an end after Boult nailed a yorker to send the West Indian packing. Rinku Singh played some exquisite strokes at the back end to help KKR post a huge total.
Raghuvanshi departed back to the pavilion as he was dismissed by Kuldeep Sen with an outside-off delivery. The batter sliced it but picked a field at third man and was caught in the deep. However, Narine kept on going from one end and he tonked 15 runs from the 12th over bowled by Ashwin. Chahal then dismissed Shreyas Iyer via LBW in the 13th over. Russell arrives on the crease and the Narine-Russell duo can wreak havoc with the bat now.
Raghuvanshi departed back to the pavilion as he was dismissed by Kuldeep Sen with an outside off delivery. The batter sliced it but picked a field at third man and was caught in the deep. However, Narine kept on going from one end and he tonked 15 runs from the 12th over bowled by Ashwin. Chahal then dismissed Shreyas Iyer via LBW in the 13th over. Russell arrives on the crease and the Narine-Russell duo can wreak havoc with the bat now.
The partnership between Raghuvanshi and Narine has reached 50 now and the latter is looking dangerous as he is trying to smash every delivery which comes his way. Raghuvanshi is building his innings with a classic strokeplay. He flicked one against Chahal and also played a late cut to Chahal to get four runs. Narine continued his onslaught from one end and completed his fifty in 29 balls. RR need a wicket as soon as possible.
The run-scoring hasn’t been very easy on this surface so far. Also, Avesh Khan provided an early blow to KKR as he dismissed Phillip Salt with a back-of-a-length delivery outside off. The batter mistimed it and Avesh Khan took a superb diving catch flying to his left. Angkrish Raghuvanshi smashed two classic boundaries against Trent Boult. Narine hit a six in the sixth over to sign off the powerplay and KKR doesn’t have a moderate net run rate but they haven’t lost multiple wickets as well.
Playing XI
Kolkata Knight Riders: Philip Salt(w), Sunil Narine, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Shreyas Iyer(c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Varun Chakaravarthy, Harshit Rana
Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson(w/c), Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Kuldeep Sen, Yuzvendra Chahal
Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and elected to bowl
