A blistering century by opener Shane Watson helped Rajasthan Royals reach a challenging 199/6 against Kolkata Knight Riders in their Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter at the Brabourne Stadium here on Saturday.
Watson rose up to the occasion in the Royals' must-win match to remain unbeaten at 104 off 59 balls, plundering nine fours and five sixes.
For Kolkata, Andre Russell (3/32) was the pick of the bowlers.
Opting to bat first, Royals got off to a flying start with openers Ajinkya Rahane and Watson striking the ball at ease to all parts of the park to score 66 in the first six overs.
The first over of the match set the momentum for the home side with bowler Azhar Mahmood leaking nine runs. Both openers meant business right from the start as KKR pacers or spinners all got the stick.
As Royals were merrily scoring runs, the sixth ball of the seventh over saw Rahane (37; 22b, 3x4, 2x6) running himself out after a mix-up with his partner.
But the wicket didn't put the brakes on the scoring for Rajasthan as Watson kept on timing the ball sweetly to bring up his half-century in just 31 balls.
With his fifty, Watson became the second batsman to score 16 half-centuries for his side after teammate Rahane.
Royals reached the score of 107 in the 10th over.
The Knights after getting hammered in the first 10 overs found luck when they got rid of Steve Smith (14), Sanju Samson (8) and James Faulkner (6) in quick succession in the space of four overs. Rajasthan were then 140/4 in 14.3 overs.
Karun Nair gave good support to Watson smacking three fours in his short innings of 16 off 9 balls till he departed in the 18th over.
