During the 15th match of the 11th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) between Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Jaipur, Kolkata Knight Riders beat Rajasthan Royals by 7 wickets.
After being sent in to bat by Dinesh Karthik, Rajasthan Royals scored a decent 160-8 in their allotted quota of 20 overs. However, their bowling never really posed any threat to the Knight Riders’ batting line-up. As a result, Kolkata scored 163-3 in 18.5 overs.
Now, we will look at the hits and flops players in this match.
Hits
Nitish Rana (KKR) – Before Nitish Rana’s batting came into play, it was his bowling which made KKR have an upper hand in the match. Bowling a couple of overs, Rana picked up a wicket in each one of them. He was responsible in sending back the openers of Rajasthan Royals, Ajinkya Rahane and D’Arcy Short. With the bat in hand, Rana came in to bat at No. 4 in the ninth over. He ended up scoring 35* (27) with the help of two fours and a six.
Robin Uthappa (KKR) – In a decent chase, Robin Uthappa wouldn’t have expected to come in to bat in the first over itself. He did not shy away from the responsibility when Chris Lynn was bowled without scoring. Uthapppa stitched a 69-run partnership with Sunil Narine (35) to set the ball rolling for his team. He ended up scoring 48 (36) with the help of six fours and two sixes.
Dinesh Karthik (KKR) – Playing an archetype captain’s knock, Dinesh Karthik sealed the chase for Kolkata Knight Riders. When he came in to bat at No. 5 in the 13th over, his team had required 59 runs from 45 balls. He played a sensible knock and did not let the required run rate possess a danger. He ended up scoring 42* (23) with the help of two fours and two sixes.
Flops
Ben Stokes (RR) – Ben Stokes, player of the tournament in the last season of the IPL, is yet to display his top game in this season. Stokes came in to bat at No. 5 in the 13th over in a situation where his team required him to play the role of a finisher. He ended up scoring 14 (11) with the help of one six. With the ball in hand, he remained wicketless, registering bowling figures of 3-0-25-0.
Dhawal Kulkarni (RR) – Opening the bowling with K Gowtham, Dhawal Kulkarni failed to left any impact in a match where Rajasthan Royals needed their bowlers to fire. His lacklustre bowling saw him bowling two overs in the powerplay, conceding 20 runs without taking any wicket.
Jaydev Unadkat (RR) – Jaydev Unadkat was brought into the attack as the first change bowler in the fifth over. Uthappa was critical on Unadkat in his first over, scoring three fours in it. To bowl his second over, Unadkat was brought into the attack in the 15th over. He bowled another over, but ended up being hit for two sixes in it, one each by Dinesh Karthik and Nitish Rana. His overall figures read 3-0-34-0.
