IPL 2021 Highlights: Rajasthan beat Kolkata by 6 wickets

Chris Morris took four wickets before skipper Sanju Samson remained unbeaten at 42 and struck the winning runs as Rajasthan cruised to victory against KKR with six wickets and seven balls to spare. 

Rajasthan restricted Kolkata to a lowly 133/9 in 20 overs. The KKR top-order failed once again and the lower order failed to fire at the death with Morris and co taking timely wickets.

The Rajasthan Royals took on the Kolkata Knight Riders in match 18 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 at Mumbai’s Wanhkede Stadium on Saturday. 

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Here are the highlights of the match:

. Sanju Samson hits the winnings runs to seal a 6-wicket win with 7 balls to spare. 

. Prasidh strikes, dismissing Tewatia. (RR score: 100/4 from 13.4 overs)

.  Chakravarty strikes again, removing Shivam Mavi. (RR score: 85/3 form 10.5 overs)

. Shivam Mavi dismisses Yashasvi Jaiswal. Good comeback from Mavi, after conceding two fours in the over earlier. Gets his man with a pitched up delivery, which Jaiswal chipped straight to Nagarkot at deep cover. (RR score: 40/2 from 4.5 overs)

. Varun Chakravarty gets KKR’s first breakthrough, trapping Jos Buttler lbw. Chakravarty has been very successful in the powerplay overs, taking all of KKR’s wickets (6) in this phase so far. (RR score: 21/2 from 3.2 overs)

. Great end to the innings by Morris, who conceded a six off the first delivery but took two wickets and bowled three dots off the next five. Its a below-par score no doubt, but RR batting isn’t exactly firing on all cylinders at the moment. (KKR score: 133/9 from 20 overs)

. Chris Morris takes two wickets to jolt KKR at the death, dismissing Andre Russel and Dinesh Karthik in quick succession. (KKR score: 118/7 from 17.6 overs)

. Mustafizur strikes to remove Tripathi. Gets his man with a slower one, which Tripathi looks to whack for a six over square leg, but does not get the milage on it as Riyan Parag takes a nonchalant catch. (KKR score: 94/5 from 15.2 overs)

. Horrible mix-up with Rahul Tripathi sees KKR skipper Eoin Morgan run out by Chris Morris. Tripathi hits one straight down the wicket and it deflects off Morgan’s bat. Tripathi initiated the run, Morgan responded, but the former pulled out with Morgan halfway down the track. No chance of him making it back. (KKR score: 61/4 from 10.2 overs)

. Unadkat strikes to remove Narine. His poor showing with the bat continues. Goes for a pull shot on a short ball, but only top-edges it for Yashasvi Jaiswal to take a sharp catch behind square leg. (KKR score: 54/3 from 9.5 overs)

. Sakaria strikes, dismisses Rana. Gets his man with a wide short ball, with Rana lashing out at it but only managing to edging it to Samson behind the stumps. (KKR score 45/2 from 8.1 overs)

. End of the powerplay and a successful one for Rajasthan, keeping a check on the scoring and dismissing Gill. (KKR score: 25/1 from 6 overs)

. And the pressure tells. Gill never looked settled and was forced to go for a risky single, with Buttler making no mistake with his pick-up and throw from short cover to catch the young batsman well short of his crease. (KKR score: 24/1 from 5.4 overs)

. Its a steady start for Gill and Rana, who are taking their time to settle in. Just the one boundary so far, as the RR bowlers have maintained a disciplined line and length so far. (KKR score: 14/0 from 3 overs)

RR skipper Sanju Samson won the toss and elected to bowl first, the more successful choice on this surface, where teams chasing have won five of the eight matches so far. 

Samson echoed the same thoughts, saying bowling first has helped the sides here. He also appreciated his teammates, saying there were a lot of positives despite losing three matches so far. He confirmed two changes to the side, with Jaydev Unadkat and Yashasvi Jaiswal coming in for Shreyas Gopal and Manan Vohra. 

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Meanwhile, KKR skipper Eoin Morgan admitted he would’ve liked to bowl first as well. He also praised his team’s character in the face of defeat. The Englishman named one change to his side, with Shivam Mavi coming in for Kamlesh Nagarkoti. 

Playing XIs:

RR: Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (WK/C), David Miller, Shivam Dube, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Jaydev Unadkat, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman

KKR: Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (C), Dinesh Karthik (WK), Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Varun Chakravarthy, Shivam Mavi, Prasidh Krishna

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Both sides were in dire need for a win, having lost three of their four games so far this season. KKR were on a three-game losing streak following their opening-day win against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, while Rajasthan had lost two-in-a-row following their win against the Delhi Capitals on April 15. 

For skipper Morgan, the primary concern is the toothless bowling attack, having conceded more than 200 runs in their last two matches. For Rajasthan, it is an inconsistant performance of their top-order so far this season. 

KKR have a 12-10 advantage in their head-to-head record against RR.