Disciplined bowling effort ensures Knight Riders restrict Rajasthan Royals to 151-9 in Guwahati; defending champions then chase target with 15 balls to spare, thanks to opener Quinton de Kock’s unbeaten 97
KKR’s Varun Chakravarthy (left) celebrates with teammates after dismissing RR skipper Riyan Parag in Guwahati yesterday. Pic/PTI
Kolkata Knight Riders’ bowlers performed in unison as the defending champions defeated Rajasthan Royals comfortably by eight wickets to open their account in
IPL-18 here on Wednesday.
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KKR spinners Varun Chakravarthy (2-17 in four overs) and Moeen Ali (2-23 in four overs) got deliveries to grip and turn on a sticky track while seamer Vaibhav Arora (2-33 in four overs) also used clever change of pace to get his scalps after the visitors opted to bowl first. KKR’s India pacer Harshit Rana (2-36) also did well and picked up a couple of wickets.
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KKR’s Quinton de Kock during his 97 not out yesterday. Pic/AFP
In reply, opener Quinton de Kock top-scored for KKR with an unbeaten 97 off 61 balls as they chased down the target in 17.3 overs. Leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga (1-34) claimed one wicket for RR.
Earlier, Varun Chakravarthy and Ali dismantled the RR’s middle order, picking up two wickets each in successive overs right after the Powerplay, shifting the momentum in KKR’s favour.
Chakravarthy, varying his pace masterfully, bowled out his quota with exceptional figures of 2-17, while Moeen Ali finished with a tidy 2-23 from his four overs.
Seamer Vaibhav Arora (2-33) was expensive, but chipped in with two crucial wickets — regular RR skipper Sanju Samson (13 off 11) with a yorker in the Powerplay before dismissing impact substitute Shubham Dubey (9) cheaply.
Harshit Rana (2-36) was instrumental at the death, breaking Dhruv Jurel’s promising innings of 33 (28) and removing the dangerous Shimron Hetmyer for just 7, both in the crucial penultimate over.
A quickfire cameo 16 off seven balls from Jofra Archer ensured that they reached the 150-mark, before he fell to Spencer Johnson (1-42) in the penultimate ball of
their innings.
Brief scores
RR 151-9 in 20 overs (D Jurel 33, Y Jaiswal 29; V Chakravarthy 2-17, M Ali 2-23, V Arora 2-33, H Rana 2-36) lost to KKR 153-2 in 17.3 overs (Q de Kock 97*) by 8 wickets
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