The second match of the super Sunday encounter in the Indian Premier League saw Kolkata Knight Riders take on Rajasthan Royals in their backyard. As expected, the match turned out to be an exciting one as both the teams fought till the end but it was Dinesh Karthik’s Kolkata Knight Riders who ended up as the winners. Both the teams who have a neck to neck record against each other gave tough competition but it was KKR’s all-around performance that helped them win the match by 8 wickets in the end.
Winning the toss, KKR invited Rajasthan to bat first. The decision worked in favour of the team as KKR bowler Prasidh Krishna got rid of RR skipper Ajinkya Rahane in the second over. In came Steven Smith to give opener Jos Buttler company in the middle and the two played patiently and went on to make a 50 run partnership. The two foreign players steadied the Rajasthan innings before Buttler was dismissed by Harry Gurney's delivery after he made 37 runs off 34 balls. In came Rahul Tripathi who was quick to head back in the dugout as he was out on 6. Ben Stokes who walked in next made slow 7 off 14 deliveries and that’s where the team suffered a setback as RR managed to score 139 runs in their 20 overs.
Batting second, Dinesh Karthik sent Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn to open the innings for KKR. The decision worked for the visitors as the two hammered Rajasthan bowlers for fours and sixes all-round the park. In no time, the two scored 50 runs. By the end of the first power play, Kolkata Knight Riders were 65/0 after 6 overs.
Rajasthan finally had a breakthrough in the 8th over after Narine was caught off a Shreyas Gopal but by then enough damage had been done and KKR had the match in their pocket. Sunil made a quick 47 off 25 balls with the help of 6 boundaries and 3 sixes. Soon Lynn too was out after making his 50. Robin Uthappa and Shubman Gill remained not out and guided their team home without any further casualties.
With this win, KKR is now topping the IPL points table with 8 points whereas Rajasthan are on the seventh position.
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