IPL 2018: KKR breach Rajasthan fortress at Jaipur, beat RR by 7 wickets

Rajasthan Royals lost their first match at Sawai Mansingh stadium after winning 9 matches here on the trot. Kolkata Knight Riders clinched their third win beating RR by 7 wickets

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) clinched their third win of IPL 2018, beating Rajasthan Royals by 7 wickets at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur to reach the top of Vivo IPL points table. KKR captain Dinesh Karthik led from the front and scored a 23-ball 43. Robin Uthappa was good with the bat too as he scored 48 runs off 36 balls after Chris Lynn wicket in the first over. At no point, Rajasthan Royals' bowlers seemed to create any pressure on KKR batting line-up. With this, Rajasthan Royals' nine-match winning streak at Sawai Mansingh Stadium comes to an end. 

After a bad start, Sunil Narine and Uthappa stabilised the Kolkata Knight Riders' innings. They both hit the ball well and rotated the strike regularly. Rajasthan Royals' bowlers failed to take wickets at regular intervals and create pressure on the KKR batsmen. Poor fielding added to the woes of Rajasthan Royals. 

While batting first, Rajasthan Royals made 160-8 in 20 overs. The innings turned out to be a roller coaster. While runs were coming at a decent pace, wickets kept falling as well. Ajinkya Rahane made 36 from 18. D Arcy Shorts finally found some form and made 44. Sunil Narine was very expensive, in fact, today's spell was his most expensive in IPL ever. He gave away 48 runs in 4 overs and went wicketless.  

Earlier, Rajasthan Royals were invited to bat first by Kolkata Knight Riders. RR had a rather stable start. Runs came at decent pace wickets kept falling hence the run rate never crossed 8 at any point.

Rahane played well but could not carry his innings for long. He was dismissed for 36. D Arcy Shorts was dismissed for a well made 44. 

Kolkata Knight Riders innings update: Over by over

Kolkata Knight Riders Playing XI: Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik(w/c), Andre Russell, Shubman Gill, Tom Curran, Piyush Chawla, Shivam Mavi, Kuldeep Yadav

Over 1: Sunil Narine to open with Chris Lynn. Krishnappa Gowtham to start for Rajasthan. One run. Bowled him. Chirs Lynn tries to go across the line, misses. clean bowled. Robin Uthappa joins Narine. Keeping it very tight. KKR 1-1. 

Over 2: Dhawal Kulkarni is in. Miscommunication. Almost a run out. Four to Narine, over the keeper's head. Single. Another single to Uthappa. KKR 9-1.

Over 3: Gowtham continues, gets hit for four by Uthappa.In the air, falls short of Stokes. Narine tires to cut, straight to the fielder. Another dot. KKR 15-1

Over 4: Kulkarni to continue. Dot after dot. Here is a four. Another four to Narine, pierced through the in-field. Narine pulls, and gets a four. Three in a row. KKR 27-1

Over 6: Ben Laughing into the attack, missed the good line, hit for four. Single to Uthappa. Single to Narine. Quick single, good running between the wickets.Narine dispatches  Laughlin for six. KKR: 53-1

Over 7: Shreyas Gopal is into the attack. Hit for six. KKR 62-1

Over 8: Ben Stokes comes in. Good ball. Single to Uthappa. Outside edge and four. Bad Luck. 68-1

Over 9: Narine is run out. Shreyas Gopal gets hit for six by Uthappa, he has found some form. Nitish Rana is the new man in. 

Over 10: Stokes came to bowl, Rana took a single in the backward point region. Stokes to Uthappa, a miss field went for 4. Two consecutive single of the 3rd and 4th ball. The slower ball went gone wide. Stokes end the over with two single. KKR 87/2. 

Over 11: Gowtham to Rana, a miss field of his own bowling costs him a single. Dot. Two consecutive single of the 3rd and 4th ball and ends the over with 2 dot balls. KKR 91/2

Over 12: Laughlin to Rana,  low full-toss close to off stump goes for 4. Rana played the second ball for a dot. Laughlin to Rana, 1 run. No run of the 4th ball. Uthappa takes a single of the 5th ball. One run to end the over. KKR 97/2

Over 13: Gowtham to Rana, Four runs. Rana take a single of the second ball. Gowtham to Uthappa, Uthappa tried to hit that ball for six but caught at long on by Ben Stokes, Uthappa scored 48 runs off 36balls (6x4 2x6). Dinesh Karthik comes to bat. Two runs, again a double. Last ball for. KKR/3

Over 15: Singles here and there. Chance of a run out missed. KKR 121-3. Need 40 from 30.

Over 16: Laughlin continues, Dot and single. This is not going to help RR. They need wickets. Another dot. Another single. Single to end. Five runs from the over. 35 from 24. 

Over 17: Unadkat to continue. One run. Single coming easily. Here's a six. single taken. six again. Just 19 from 18.

Over 19: Laughlin to continue. Two runs. Wide. Single taken. Six and the end for them. KKR win by 7 wickets.

Kolkata Knight Riders innings analysis:

Chasing the modest target of 161, Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine came to open the innings for Kolkata Knight Riders. Krishnappa Gowtham came to bowl the first over the innings and took the wicket of Lynn as he cleaned him up, a massive blow for KKR upfront. Robin Uthappa came to crease after the dismissal of Lynn. Gowtham gave only 1 run in the first over. Dhawal Kulkarni came to bowl the second over and gave 8 runs as Narine tried to hit him out of the park but failed to do so. After the end of the 2 overs, KKR was 9 for 1. Gowtham continued from the other end and gave 6 runs as he pulled it back after hit for a four of the first ball. Dhawal Kulkarni came to bowl the 4th over and first, two balls went for no run but Narine hit three consecutive fours in the next 3 balls as he gave away 12 runs in his 2nd over.  After the end of the 4 overs, Kolkata Knight Riders was 27 for 1. Sunil Narine (21 runs off 15 balls and Robin Uthappa (6 runs off 7 balls)

Jaydev Unadkat came to bowl the 5th over and Robin Uthappa played some brilliant shots to score 13 runs including 3 fours. Unadkat looked clueless as he didn’t know what line to bowl. Laughlin came to bowl the last over of the powerplay and Uthappa greeted him with a four-over fine leg.  Narine hit a brilliant six over mid-wicket in the last ball of the powerplay.  After the end of the powerplay, Kolkata Knight Riders was 53 for 1. Sunil Narine (28 runs off 18 balls) and Robin Uthappa (25 runs off 16 balls). KKR recovered from an early blow as Narine and Uthappa put on 52 runs together for the second wicket. Shreyas Gopal came to bowl the 7th over and Uthappa hit his 3rd ball for a gigantic six over mid-wicket region as he gave away 9 runs in his first over. Ben Stokes came to bowl the 8th over and gave away 6 runs as Sunil Narine keep on playing his shots. After the end of the 8 overs, Kolkata Knight Riders was 68  for 1. Sunil Narine (35 runs off 22 balls and Robin Uthappa (33 runs off 24 balls).

Shreyas Gopal came to bowl the 9th over of the innings and bowled some good deliveries frustrates Narine as he scampers for a quick single but got perished. Nitish Rana came to the crease after Narine run out. Meanwhile, Uthappa looked brilliant as he hit the last ball of the Gopal’s over for six over deep mid-wicket. Gopal gave 9 runs in his 2nd over. Ben Stokes came to bowl the 10th over and gave away 10 runs. After 10 overs KKR required 74 runs from 60 balls. Gowtham came to bowl the 11th over of the innings and gave away only 3 runs. Laughlin came to bowl the 12th and Rana greeted him with four. Laughlin pulled it back as he gave only 3 runs of the last 5 balls. Gowtham came to bowl the 13th and hit for the boundary of the first ball. Stokes took a brilliant catch to remove Uthappa who scored 48 runs off 36 balls with a strike rate of 133.33. Gowtham gave 13 runs in his last over of the game. 

Dinesh Karthik came to the crease after the wicket of Uthappa. Shreyas Gopal has bowled the 14th over an inning and gave away only 6 runs. After the end of the 14 overs, KKR needed 45 runs from 36 balls. Unadkat came to bowl the 15th over of the innings and gave away only 5 runs. Rajasthan Royals kept the things tight while KKR dealing in singles to reach the target. Laughlin came to bowl the 15th over and bowled good line and length as KKR was not looking for big shots. After the end of the 16 over KKR needed 35 runs from 24 balls with Nitish Rana (21 runs off 18 balls) and Dinesh Karthik (20 runs off 15 balls) on the crease. Unadkat came to bowl the 17th over and after first two good balls, bowled a short ball which Karthik put for a six in the fine leg region. Rana followed his captain and hit a classic six over mid-off for a six. Unadkat gave away 16 runs as KKR cruising to the victory. After the end of the 17 over KKR needed 19 runs from 18 balls with Nitish Rana (29 runs off 21 balls) and Dinesh Karthik (28 runs off 18 balls) on the crease.

Ben Stokes came to bowl the 18th over as KKR was cruising for a comfortable win. Karthik and Rana was dealing in singles making full use of the long boundaries. Karthik hit a juicy full toss for a classic boundary in the cover region. Ben Stokes gave away 9 runs in his 3rd over as Karthik and Rana put on 49 runs together in 33 balls. Laughlin came to bowl the 19th over, RR needed a miracle to change the course of the game but KKR sensibly batting sealed the game for KKR as Karthik hit a six to win the match by 7 wickets. 

Rajasthan Royals innings update: Over by over

Rajasthan Royals Playing XI: Ajinkya Rahane(c), D Arcy Short, Sanju Samson(w), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Rahul Tripathi, Krishnappa Gowtham, Shreyas Gopal, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jaydev Unadkat, Ben Laughlin

Over 1: Ajinkya Rahane and D Arcy Shorts to open. Piyush Chawla to open the attack. Both players look confident. Decent over. RR 3-0

Over 2:  Kuldeep Yadav to bowl the second over. Three runs of the first three balls. Rahane and Shorts looking confident. RR: 7-0

Over 3: Chawla to continue. One run. Ajinkya steps out, coudnt connect. Decent start, only three runs from the over. Very formidable start by KKR. RR 9-0

Over 4: Sunil Narine comes in, Rahane greets him with four. That's two in two. Rahane hitting the dangerous Rahane. Make it three in three. And again, Rahane on song, pure class. Single taken. Single to Shorts. 18 runs came from the over. RR 27-0

Over 5: Shivam Mavi comes to the attack. Nice ball to start off. Shorts takes single. He has taken too many balls. Rahane steps out to Mavi and over his head for six. Single to Rahane. Shorts hits over mid-off for four. Single. RR 40-0

Over 6: Piyush to continue. Easy single to Shorts. Pure class from Rahane, four runs. Single taken. Dot ball. Single to Shorts. RR 48-0

Over 7: Nitish Rana comes to the attack. Shorts hits a four. That hit the ground. Rahane is out, run out. Dinesh Karthik hit the stump very quickly. In comes Sanju Samson. RR 55-1

Over 8: Kuldeep Yadav is back. Just three runs conceded. RR 58-1

Over 9: Mavi to continue. Samson to face. Well fielded by Mavi. Samson times it well, through the point region for four. Samson flicks and Kuldeep takes a catch. Mavi strikes. Samson gone for 7. Rahul Tripathi comes in. Two dot balls. RR: 62-2

Over 10: Tom Curran in the attack. Single to Tripathi. Dot ball. Single to Shorts. Edge and single taken. Confusion in running. two runs. Flicked away for four. RR: 71-2

Over 11: Sunil Narine is into the attack. Tripathi takes a single. Shorts places it well. Four runs. Dot ball. Another four. 81-2.

Over 12: Shivam Mavi is back. Single. Dot ball. Cracking shot just for one. That is a huge huge six by Shorts. 95 metres. That was brilliant. Cuts for four, superb timing. Double for Shorts. 14 from the over. RR 95-2

Over 13: Nitish Rana comes in. Single to Tripathi. Single to Shorts, nice cut. Single to Tripathi. Shorts swings and misses. Clean bowled. Raan strikes. Shorts out for 44 from 43. Ben Stokes comes in. Single taken. 99-3.

Over 14: Kuldeep Yadav to continue. One run. 100 up for RR.  Four to Tripathi. Out Tripathi is caught.Jos Butler comes in. RR: 106-4

Over 15: Narine continues. Six runs from the over. RR 112-4

Over 16: Butler reverse sweeps, no run. One run. Hitting hard but just for singles. Stokes hits a huge six. Single to end the over. RR: 122-4. 

Over 17: Stokes is out, hit high in the air. Gowtham is in. Butler takes a single. Gowtham takes a double. Butler takes a single to end the over. Chawal gave 18 runs in 4 overs. RR 128-5

Over 19: Curran to continue. Gowtham is caught. Gone for 12. Shreyas Gopal is in. Bowled. Two in two for Curran. Dhawal Kulkarni is the new man in. Single, hat-trick denied. Single and a no ball. Free hit. Butler hits a four. RR 151-7

Over 20: Shivam Mavi to bowl the last one. Dropped. Single. Double taken by Butler. Wide. Wide again. Bouncer, dot ball. Wide, there are clear instructions being passed by Karthik. Double. Run out at the bowler's end in pursuit of two. Kulkarni has to go. Dot to finish. RR: 160-8

Rajasthan Royals innings update after end of innings

Put in to bat first, Ajinkya Rahane and D’Arcy Short came to open the batting for Rajasthan Royals. Piyush Chawla came to bowl the first over, bowled brilliantly and gave 3 runs. Dinesh Karthik asked his other wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav to bowl from the other end. Kuldeep Yadav bowled good line and length and gave only 4 runs. After the end of the of the first two over Rajasthan Royals was 7 for no loss. Karthik continued with his wrist spinners for the third over as Chawla bowled his 2nd over and only two overs. Sunil Narine came to bowl the 4th over and Ajinkya Rahane greeted him with successive 4 fours of Narine’s first 4 balls. Rahane played some classic shots to collect 18 runs of the Narine’s over. After the end of the 4th over RR was 27 with no loss. Shivam Mavi came to bowl 5th over of the innings and gave away 13 runs as Rahane hit him over his head for a six in the 3rd ball of the over. Chawla came to bowl his third over inside 6 over and gave away 8 runs. After the end of the powerplay, Rajasthan Royals was 48 for no loss. Nitish Rana came to bowl the 7th over and took the wicket of dangerous Rahane who was striking at 189.47. After the end of 7th over RR was 55 for 1. Ajinkya Rahane scored 36 runs off 19 balls with the help of 5 fours and 1 six.

Sanju Samson came to bat after the dismissal of captain Ajinkya Rahane. Kuldeep Yadav came to bowl the 8th over as Nitish Rana removed Rahane and gave away 3 runs as Short was struggling against spin. He scored 18 runs in 25 balls with a strike rate of 72. Shivam Mavi came to bowl the 9th over and Samson throws his wicket after hitting a classic boundary in the backward point region. Samson caught at deep square leg by Kuldeep Yadav while he was trying to pull the Shivam Mavi, neither he played the ball in gap nor he got the timing. Samson scored 7 runs off 8 balls while Mavi gave only 4 runs and took a wicket in his 2nd over. Rahul Tripathi sent ahead of Ben Stokes. Tom Curran came to bowl the 10th over of the innings and gave only 3 runs in his first 4 balls before hitting for a boundary of the last ball of his over. After the end of 10 over, Rajasthan Royals was 71 for 2 with D'Arcy Short (25 runs off 31 balls) and Rahul Tripathi (3 runs off 3balls).

Sunil Narine came to bowl the 11th over of the innings and bowled his 2nd expensive over of the match as he gave away 10 runs, below par effort by Narine. After the end of his 2 overs, he gave away 28 runs. Mavi came to bowl the 12th over and bowled good line & length before hit a mammoth six over the deep square leg and a beautiful cut in the point region as D’Arcy Short unleashed his wrath. Mavi gave away 14 runs as Rajasthan Royals was 95 for 2 after 12 overs, D'Arcy Short (43 runs off 40 balls) and Rahul Tripathi (9 runs off 6 balls). Nitish Rana came to bowl the 13th over and didn’t allow D’Arcy Short to free his arm and finally bowled him. D'Arcy Short scored 44 runs off 43 balls with the help of 5 fours and a six as Rana finished his 2nd over giving only 4 runs. At the end of 13th over Rajasthan Royals was 99 for 3. Ben Stokes and Rahul Tripathi were at the crease.

Kuldeep Yadav came to bowl the 14th over of the innings and gave away 7 runs in his first four balls before getting the wicket of Rahul Tripathi of the last ball. Rahul Tripathi scored 15 runs off 11 balls with a strike rate of 136.36. Jos Butler came to bat after the dismissal of Tripathi. Narine came to bowl the 15th over, Butler and Stokes failed to hit big shots to Narine as he gave away only 6 runs in his 3rd over. Kuldeep Yadav came to bowl the 16th over of the innings, he bowled good line and length as he gave only 3 runs in first 4 balls before hit for a gigantic six over long on. After the end of 16 over RR was 122 for 4 with Ben Stokes and Jos Butler on the crease. Piyush Chawla came to bowl the 17th over and removed swashbuckling Ben Stokes of the first ball as he gave only 5 runs. Chawla gave away finished his full quota of overs giving 23 runs and took one wicket. 

Sunil Narine came to bowl the 18th over of the innings and his bad night continues as he gave 14 runs in his last over and finished his quota of overs giving 48 runs without taking a wicket, his worst ever figures in the IPL. After the end of the 18th over Rajasthan Royals was 141 for 5 with Jos Butler (12 runs off 10 balls) and Gowtham (12 runs off 6 balls) on the crease. Tom Curran came to bowl the penultimate over of the innings and took two quick wickets that is of Gowtham and Shreyas ball in the two-consecutive delivery to restrict the run flow before giving 10 runs of the last four balls. Shivam Mavi came to bowl the last over of the innings. While trying to bowl outside off Mavi bowled three wide balls and gave away 9 runs as he finished the last over with a dot ball. A brilliant performance. After the end of 20 overs, Rajasthan Royals scored 160 for 8. The target for KKR is 161.
 

Here are a few things to look forward to in today's KKR vs RR match of IPL 2018 to be played at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur:

What Nitish Rana said after KKR's win against Delhi Daredevils: In-form Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batsman Nitish Rana, whose 59 helped the team drub Delhi Daredevils by 71 runs, feels he excels under pressure. "I had said that the last time as well -- when there is pressure, I seem to do better. I was happy that there was pressure, I enjoy playing under pressure," Rana said after the lopsided Indian Premier League (IPL) clash at the Eden Gardens. 

What Sanju Samson said on the eve of today's match: Fresh from his 45-ball 92 against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the ongoing IPL, in-from Rajasthan Royals batsman Sanju Samson said he was on the right track. "It is good thing to come here and play. The whole world is watching. I had a good domestic season too. I am happy the way things are going. I am improving as a player and also improving my skills," said Samson, who has been praised by the likes of AB de Villiers and Shane Warne. "I have batted in almost all positions in the batting line-up. I remember I had opened too for Rajasthan Royals. What matters is the strategy and composition of the playing XI," said Sanju Samson.

What KKR bowling coach Sridharan Sriram said about Andre Russell: Andre Russell's carnage (12-ball 41) in the middle overs of Kolkata Knight Riders' innings took the game away from Delhi Daredevils, who lost by 71 runs on Monday night, their bowling coach Sridharan Sriram feels. "The way they got 200 was a bit too much on this wicket. I think 170-180 was about a par score. That Russell blitz in the middle took the game away. When he is in that sort of flow it's difficult. We did all our planning but the execution just wasn't right," Sriram told reporters at the post match press conference. "When you are chasing 200, one guy has to get 70-80 plus. If you see the history of T20 cricket, whenever a big target has been chased down, one guy got 70 or more," Sriram opined.

Kamlesh Nagarkoti ruled out of the remaining matches of IPL 2018: In a fresh injury blow to Kolkata Knight Riders, young pacer Kamlesh Nagarkoti was today ruled out of the remainder of IPL season due to a foot injury. Karnataka seamer Prasidh Krishna was announced as the replacement for the Under-19 World Cup winning pacer who was bought at a price of Rs 32 million. The 22-year-old Prasidh has played 23 matches so far since 2015, three in the T20 format but his record in the 50-overs format has been impressive.

KKR ropes in Abhishek Nayar as part of support staff: Two-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Saturday roped in Mumbai all-rounder Abhishek Nayar to be part of its support staff for the ongoing season. Nayar is close to KKR skipper Dinesh Karthik and helped him during his lean patch earlier. "I want to play as long as (possible for India). It was hard a lot of times. I had a lot of doubt whether I will ever play for the country again," Karthik had told the media after his tri-series winning unbeaten 8-ball 29 cameo that helped India beat Bangladesh in Sri Lanka.

Here is how KKR and RR have performed against each other head-to-head in IPL matches so far:

Overall:

Matches players: 16
Rajasthan Royals won: 9
Kolkata Knight Riders won: 7

Some trivia ahead of today's match between KKR and RR

The Rajasthan Royals have won their last 9 IPL matches at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. The record for the most consecutive wins at a venue is 10 - jointly held by Chennai Super Kings (at the MA Chidambaram Stadium) and Mumbai Indians (at the Wankhede Stadium).