Match Review

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Revenge is served best cold, or here ‘bowled.’ After Ben Stokes had accounted for Andre Russell in the first innings, the all-rounder from the Caribbean left no stone unturned with a similar bowling performance. After a host of wickets fell around Stokes, Russell’s staggering delivery came off as a low-blow dismissing the English all-rounder for a 13-ball 7, which also was the lowest point in the encounter. 

Highs and Lows

Ben ‘Test’ Stokes was on show in the IPL SRL, with the left-handed all-rounder getting himself in a miff. First, he was right there involved in an inspired spell where he sent two of KKR’s stars packing, he received similar treatment when he walked out to bat. After a painful 12-ball seven, he was finally undone by Russell with the formality completed by Nitish Rana. A 13-ball 7 isn’t quite the right return that the Royals were expecting from their all-rounder. 

Rating Charts

It was Sunil Narine who kicked off the proceedings for KKR with his uncanny batting that got them immediate results alongside Shubman Gill with nine runs off the first over. However, two boundaries later, Narine was sent back to the hut, courtesy a timber-tickler by Jayadev Unadkat. Gill, on the other hand, continued his aggression, with two more boundaries en route to his 19-ball 20. For Royals, Ankit Rajpoot struck twice in the last over of the powerplay to leave Knight Riders hanging at 45/3. 

Until the sixth over of the innings, Rajasthan Royals were truly living up their name, with a royal performance where there was nothing that the Kolkata Knight Riders bowlers could do, really. While Buttler held his composure, Robin Uthappa just set the stage on fire, with a 20-ball 35, that consisted of six boundaries and one six. KKR’s 15-crore buy, Pat Cummins, was on the receiving end of things before he redeemed himself in the last over of the powerplay, dismissing both the openers while Royals put 60 runs onboard. 

The real innings started soon after the powerplay overs where runs started drying with every passing over. However, that was no big challenge for the duo of Dinesh Karthik and Nitish Rana who put on a show with their willow, scoring 60 runs in seven overs. At the end of the ten overs, on the back of their partnership, KKR reached a total of 79/3 before a flurry of wickets fell. First, Karthik (39 off 28) was undone by Rahul Tewatia before the English all-rounder Stokes accounted for Russell and Rana to leave them reeling at 104/6. However, Rahul Tripathi’s willow ensured that they finished the middle phase on a high, scoring 13 runs off the last over to take the total to 117/6. 

Whilst Kolkata were jolted by the double-wicket over from Ben Stokes, Royals were jolted by the Knight Riders bowling pack, who blew the so-called ‘Royal’ middle order by a wind’s blow. Until the tenth over of the innings, Rajasthan were still at ascendancy having scored 92 runs for the loss of three wickets. However, after that, an array of wickets fell with Smith, Stokes and Parag walking back in the span of eighteen deliveries. That changed the landscape of the encounter, as Kuldeep, Siddesh Lad and Russell picked up three in between them to reduce the RRs to 121/7. 

Rajasthan Royals stayed true to their name towards the end of the innings, more royal than the Knights hitting the right length. Tom Curran and Jaydev Unadkat were the architects of the masterclass bowling performance, conceding just 20 runs off the first three overs as Rahul Tripathi and Siddesh Lad struggled to score. However, everything changed dramatically when Ankit Rajpoot walked to bowl and conceded 20 runs off the last over as Pat Cummins ended up on a six-ball 11. Lad, too, scored 13-ball 17 to take the Knights to 161/7 after 20 overs. 

Towards the end, with just two wickets in hand, the task of chasing down 41 runs was too big an ask for the tail-enders. While Tom Curran did showcase his batting prowess, with a 17-ball 23, scoring four boundaries, he was not well supported from the other end. With the run-rate reaching the 11 and 12 mark, Curran’s dismissal all but sealed the game in KKR’s favour. Pat Cummins did not end his wicket-tally there, as he picked up another wicket to finish with a spell of 4/32. 

Oh, we have been waiting quite a while to witness such a classic encounter, which had everything in it - starting from runs, wickets to a staggering collapse. In the first innings, thanks to Dinesh Karthik’s cameo, there was some sort of entertainment before RR’s openers put on a show. However, ultimately, it was the toppling effort from the Knight Riders’ bowling unit which led them to a narrow 17-run victory.