IPL 2020: KKR vs RR Review – Kolkata jump to 4th spot, Royals bow out

Kolkata Knight Riders have defeated Rajasthan Royals by a mammoth 60 runs to stay well and truly alive in the ongoing Indian Premier League season. With this win, they have now jumped to the fourth spot in the points table and can possibly knock out either Delhi Capitals or Royal Challengers Bangalore depending on the margin of victory for either of the teams.

Earlier, Steve Smith won the toss and opted to field first and Jofra Archer struck in the very first over. KKR never really looked in great touch in the first half of their innings. At one stage, they were struggling at 100/5 with Rahul Tewatia picking three wickets. This is when Eoin Morgan and Andre Russell joined hands and smacked the bowlers out of the park.

The duo added 45 runs quickly under 3 overs. Russell finally looked in good touch scoring 25 off 11. However, the real hero for them with the bat was the high-flying Morgan. The skipper led from the front to score 68 off just 35 balls with five fours and six sixes. His knock propelled Kolkata to 191 runs in their 20 overs.

The Royals started well, scoring 19 runs off the first five balls but then Pat Cummins ran through their top order. Within the Powerplay itself, RR were reeling at 37/5 and there was no looking back for KKR since then. Jos Buttler and Rahul Tewatia fought well but they had too much to do. Eventually, they could only reach 131 runs in their 20 overs to lose the game by 60 runs.

Turning Point

Pat Cummins’ opening spell – After Morgan’s knock propelled them to 191, KKR had to bowl well upfront to put pressure on the opposition. And that is exactly what Cummins did. The Aussie pacer finally lived up to his billing and delivered when it mattered the most. He nipped out Robin Uthappa, Ben Stokes (thanks to a sensational catch from Dinesh Karthik), Steve Smith and Riyan Parag to leave the Royals tottering in a must-win game. He ended with the figures of 4/34 in his four overs.

Top performers

Records/Personal Milestones

• Dinesh Karthik went past MS Dhoni in terms of most catches as a wicket-keeper in IPL
• Steve Smith played his 50th match in the IPL

Team positions

Rajasthan Royals have been knocked out of the tournament while KKR will now wait for the results between DC vs RCB and SRH vs MI to know about their fate.