30th match, RR vs KKR, IPL 2022: Rajasthan Royals won by 7 runs
The Rajasthan Royals (RR) returned to winning ways in the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 on Monday at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, defeating the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 7 runs. Rajasthan Royals won by 7 runs thanks to Jos Buttler's second century of the season and Yuzvendra Chahal's five-wicket performance, which included a game-changing hat-trick. After Shimron Hetmyer's powerful hit offered an early breakthrough for RR, KKR lost Sunil Narine's wicket on the opening delivery while chasing a gigantic score of 218. Shreyas Iyer, the captain, began his innings with two consecutive fours. At the other end of the field, opener Aaron Finch smashed two fours off Boult in the third over.
KKR were 57-1 at the end of powerplay as the pair put on a fifty-run stand for the second wicket. Finch smashed three fours and a six against Chahal in the seventh over, scoring 19 runs. Finch dispatched Obed McCoy with a four and a six in the next over, which yielded 19 runs. In the ninth over, Prasidh Krishna took Finch's key wicket, and the opener was removed for 58.
At the midway point, KKR led 116-2. The next hitter, Nitish Rana, hit a four and a six before being caught by Buttler off Chahal's bowling. At one point, Shreyas Iyer had reached his half-century and was still going strong. Ravi Ashwin turned the game around by castleing Andre Russell, who was out on the first ball he faced. With a six and a four from Shreyas Iyer in the 15th over, the equation was reduced to 51 runs in the remaining five overs. Yuzvendra Chahal's spectacular hat-trick got RR back in the game as four wickets fell in the 17th over, including skipper Iyer's key wicket.
Umesh Yadav, on the other hand, kept KKR's spirit alive by hitting two sixes and a four off the 18thover. In the penultimate over, Prasidh Krishna let up only 7 runs, and KKR needed 11 runs off 6 balls. As RR won the game by 7 runs, Obed McCoy kept his cool and took the final two wickets. RR made three changes to their eleven after being asked to bat first. Karun Nair, Obed McCoy, and Trent Boult were named in the eleven.
Buttler smashed two sixes and as many fours as RR were 40/0 after four overs after a quiet first two overs. The first pair had a fifty partnership, with Jos Buttler performing the brunt of the hitting, and RR were 55/0 at the end of the powerplay. After Butter reached his half-century in 29 deliveries, Umesh Yadav, who was brought back to bowl the 9th over of the innings, gave up 13 runs in the 9th over. Padikkal blasted Narine for a six before the left-hander was duped by the spinner, who smashed the ball into the stumps. Sanju Samson, the RR skipper, got off to a good start with two consecutive fours, and RR were 120-1 after 12 overs. RR were 148-1 after 14 overs as Buttler smashed two fours off Cummins.
Before Andre Russell gave a critical breakthrough by catching the RR skipper at deep mid-wicket, Samson blasted a six and a four. With a superb six, Buttler reached his second century of the season. Buttler was caught at fine-leg, and the RR opener was dismissed in the same over. With the dismissals of Riyan Parag and Karun Nair, KKR regained two more wickets, but Hetmyer smashed consecutive sixes in the final over and finished the innings with a four as RR reached 217/5 in the first innings.
Scores: Rajasthan Royals 217/5 (Jos Buttler 103, Sanju Samson 38; Sunil Narine 2-21) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 210 all out (Shreyas Iyer 85, Aaron Finch 58; Yuzvendra Chahal 5-40) by 7 runs.
