Sharjah: Kolkata Knight Rider struck a super punch in their final round-robin game of the Indian Premier League(IPL) this season sealing a dominant 86 run win over Rajasthan Royals at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Thursday. The win have almost guarented a place in the play-offs although they have to wait till Mumbai Indians finish their game on Friday.The KKR bowlers went berserk packing the Rajsthan batters home for 85 after Eoin Morgan’s side posted a competitive total of 171/4.
The opening duo of Subhman Gill(56) and Venkatesh Iyer(38) added a solid 79 runs for the opening wicket giving Kolkata a base for good score before the later got dismissed after being well set. Nitish Rana(12) and Rahul Tripathi(14) although didnt stay at the crease for long, their quick fire cameos ensured KKR dont drop the pace of the innings. However, Kolkata did slow down a bit especially after the dismissal of Gill who scored a majestic half-century anchoring the innings. Skipper Eoin Morgan and Dinesh Karthik added valuable runs down the order to get Kolkata to past the 170 mark.
In reply, Rajsthan had a outing to forget as their batting line up fell like a pack of cards. Yashasvi Jaiswal failed to open his account while skipper Sanju Samson who had a stellar tournament managed just a single. Apart from Rahul Tewatia(44), the top scorer and Shivam Dube(18), none were able to get into double digits. Youngster Shivam Mavi(4/21) starred with the ball for KKR alongside Lockie Ferguson(3/18) to the seal the deal.
