IPL 2022: Key takeaways from Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals

Rajashtan Royals’ victory over the Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday came after a nail-biting finish, with no obvious winner emerging till the last delivery. Rajasthan defended the biggest target of this year’s Indian Premier League, 217, and restricted rivals Kolkata Knight Riders to 210 at the end of their innings.

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Here are the key highlights of the game:

Yuzvendra Chahal’s hattrick

The maiden hattrick of this year’s IPL and Chahal’s first in all seasons came in the 17th over and sent back Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Mavi and Pat Cummins and slowed down Kolkata Knight Riders’ batting attack.

Chahal dismissed five players in total on Sunday and was later awarded the Player of the Match Award.

Jos Buttler’s century

Jos Buttler, the opening batter for the Rajasthan Royals, scored his second ton in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League on Monday. Buttler scored 103 off 61 balls to guide his team to this year’s biggest target so far.

He scored 14 boundaries in total, five of which went for maximums. At the end of his innings, Buttler was batting at a strike rate of 168.85.

Some of Buttler’s shots were just out of the ordinary, including one that came off Umesh (0/44 in 4 overs) which landed in the adjacent tennis courts of Cricket Club of India.

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Chahal’s rivalry with Nitish Rana

The two players have been in an unspoken competition since the last season of the Indian Premier League. Nitish Rana, who plays for Kolkata Knight Riders, was dismissed by Chahal for the fifth time in all of the IPL seasons combined. 

Rana was just one of the many victims who got into the crosshairs of Chahal on Monday. He scored 18 runs off 11 deliveries before giving a comfortable catch to Jos Buttler at the boundary.