IPL 2022: Rajasthan Royals beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 7 runs

Jos Buttler smashed his second IPL
2022 hundred and Yuzvendra Chahal scripted his maiden hat-trick to power Rajasthan Royals to their fourth win in six games at the
Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai. RR defeated KKR by 7 runs in a mouthwatering clash. With this win, RR went up to the second position on the points table with 8 points in six matches. 

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Batting first, RR rode on Buttler’s
magnificent hundred to post a massive 217 for 5 in 20 overs. Thereafter, Yuzvendra Chahal took the season’s first hat-trick to choke KKR’s free-flowing chase driven by Aaron Finch and captain Shreyas Iyer. 

Buttler continues to fire

Put to bat first, opening batter Buttler continued with his swansong. He scored 61-ball-103. His innings was studded with nine fours
and five sixes, some of which were out of the ordinary, including one-off Umesh
Yadav (0/44 in 4 overs) which landed on the adjacent tennis courts of Cricket
Club of India.

When he finally fell trying to
hook Pat Cummins (1/50 in 4 overs), RR had crossed the 180-run mark and by
then the Australian Test captain was hammered for seven fours and a
six, the bulk of them by Buttler.

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Buttler added 97 runs for the opening
wicket stand with Devdutt Padikkal (24 off 18 balls), who only faced deliveries
worth three overs in the first 10 overs.

After Padikkal was removed by Sunil Narine, he was then joined by skipper Sanju
Samson (38 off 19 balls), who was equally destructive in their 67-run
second-wicket stand in just 5.4 overs.

Among the KKR bowlers, only Narine managed to make an impact but he did that with little support from his peers. Butler now has 375 runs in six games
so far topping the Orange Cap chart.

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KKR bowlers stumbled 

Shivam Mavi (1/34 in 4 overs) and
Umesh Yadav started off well during the first two overs primarily because Padikkal barely managed to middle the shots.

However, Padikkal judicially gave Buttler the bulk of the strike and that changed the course from
the third over of the match.

Umesh, who had started the tournament
on a bright note, got back to his old self of being erratic as Buttler lofted
him for a four and a six off successive deliveries.

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The floodgates opened after that as
he literally toyed with Varun Chakravarthy, whom he hit for a six by rocking back and
having enough time to send him into orbit.

If there was a wide yorker, he would
steer past third-man, short deliveries were pulled and those on the legs were
tucked behind square.  

Yuzvendra Chahal’s hat-trick ruins Finch, Iyer’s commendable efforts 

In reply, KKR made a solid start to their chase despite losing Narine for nought in the very first delivery. Aaron Finch (58 off 28) and captain Shreyas Iyer (85 off 51) shared a magnificent 107 runs partnership to provide the foundation for KKR’s chase. However, a hat-trick by Yuzvendra Chahal in the 17th over tilted the game to the Royals. Captain Iyer’s dismissal in the fourth delivery of the same over appeared to be a huge blow to KKR. Shreyas Iyer was trapped in front for lbw. Shivam Mavi and Pat Cummins were the other scalps of Chahal. 

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However, Umesh Yadav, who went wicketless today, collected 18 runs off the 18th over bowled by Trent Boult to revive the hope. But a terrific 19th over bowled by Prasidh Krishna dented KKR’s chance. 

The 20th over bowled by West Indies’ Obed McCoy saw the pacer producing a brilliant piece of performance under pressure, scalping two wickets of Sheldon Jackson and Umesh Yadav. McCoy conceded just three runs as KKR were eventually bowled out for 210 in 19.4 overs.