May has bought some luck for Kolkata Knight Riders. Shreyas Iyer and co, who last won a game on April 6, broke their five-match losing streak with a seven-wicket win vs the Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Monday. 

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Chasing 153 runs, Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh stayed unbeaten at 48 and 42 to take KKR over the line with five balls to spare. While the former smashed three boundaries and two maximums during his 37-ball stay, the latter hit six fours and one six. Kolkata’s opening woes continued. They lost their first wicket, in Aaron Finch, for 16. Skipper Shreyas Iyer then played a patient 32-ball 34. 

For Rajasthan, Trent Boult, Kuldeep Sen and Prasidh Krishna picked one wicket each. 

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In the first innings, KKR restricted the Royals to 152 runs. Skipper Sanju Samson led the team’s efforts with a 49-ball 54. However, bowlers striked at regular intervals to never let the batters explode. 

A late onslaught by Shimron Hetymar (27 not out off 13 balls) took Rajasthan beyond the 150-run mark.

For KKR, Tim Southee (2/46) scalped two wickets, while Umesh Yadav (1/24), Anukul Roy (1/28) and Shivam Mavi (1/33) accounted for one each.

RR skipper Samson after the loss said that the team fell 15-20 runs short. 

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“The wicket was a bit slow, but they also bowled really well but with the kind of batting we had, would have liked a few more boundaries at the end and finish off a bit better. I think we were short by 15-20 runs,” he said in the post match presentation.

Brief Score: Rajasthan Royals: 152 for 5 in 20 overs (Sanju Samson 54; Tim Southee 2/46).

Kolkata Knight Riders: 158 for 3 in 19.1 overs (Nitish Rana 48 not out, Rinku Singh 42 not out; Trent Boult 1/25).