IPL 2018, KKR vs RR: Hits and Misses
In what was a crucial encounter, Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and opted to field first. However, they weren’t off to the best of starts as Jos Buttler and Rahul Tripathi went bonkers and gave Rajasthan Royals a flying start. The duo added 63 for the opening stand before Tripathi was dismissed.
Ajinkya Rahane and Jos Buttler were then dismissed in the span of two overs and that turned the game and the momentum. RR never really recovered and they wasted a good start as could only manage 142.
They also couldn’t bat out their 20 overs (they were all out in 19 overs). Kuldeep Yadav bamboozled the RR batting as he took a 4-fer and dented the RR batting line-up.
Chasing just over 7 runs an over, Sunil Narine scored two sixes and 1 four off the first three deliveries of the innings. But after Narine’s dismissal, KKR slowed down and lost wickets. But Dinesh Karthik and Chris Lynn did well and forged a 48-runs stand. Lynn got out for 45 but Karthik scored an unbeaten 41 and took his team home with a couple of overs to spare.
#5 Hit: Sunil Narine
Who would’ve thought about two-three years back, Sunil Narine would be counted as an all-rounder who opened the batting and tonked the ball to all parts of the ground. After hitting the then-fastest fifty in the IPL last year, Narine started the season with a 17-ball half-ton against RCB. But after that, he didn't get those big scores but he was giving KKR brisk starts.
In the last game, the West Indian scored a blistering 36-ball 75. And he carried his form into this game as well. He struck a quick-fire 21, hitting all those runs in the first over of the innings (off Krishnappa Gowtham). He was out in the next over but he had given KKR a very good start once again.
With the ball, he was in good form and is KKR’s leading wicket-taker in this tournament. And once again in this game, he bowled a brilliant line and length not allowing the batsmen to free their arms. Narine ended with figures of 1/29 and it was an all-round show from the West Indian