IPL24: Rajasthan edges past KKR in a last ball thriller after Buttler brilliance upstages Narine ton

 

Kolkata Knight Riders had to lose despite coming close to winning at home.  Batting first, KKR scored 223 runs under the influence of Sunil Narine brilliance . However Jos Buttler's magnificent century won the match for Rajasthan Royals.

 Sunil Narine's hundred failed to get a victory .  KKR could not win despite scoring 223 runs in Eden.  Jos Buttler eventually survived and left the field with a win over Rajasthan Royals.  He scored another outstanding century.  The batsmen looked strong but the KKR bowlers disappointed.  As a result of this loss, KKR remained second in the points table.  Rajasthan further strengthened their position at the top of the points list.

 Rajasthan captain Sanju Samson won the toss and decided to bowl first.  Phil Salt, the hero of the previous match, did not get a run in this match.  Abesh Khan's brilliant  caught and bowled cut short Salt who returned for 10 runs after he was dropped on the 2nd ball .  Another opener, Narine, was in a devastating mood from the start of this match, despite not getting support from Salt .  He teamed up with Angakrish Raghuvanshi who came in at number three.  They added 85 runs for the second wicket.

 Although new in IPL, Raghuvanshi is trusted by the management in every match.  He showed how talented he is in this match as well.  He played skilful shots on all sides of the wicket.  He eased some pressure on Narine.  KKR benefited from that.  Because, the day Narine plays without pressure, it is difficult to stop him.  It was also seen in this match.  Raghuvanshi got out after hitting 30 runs off 18 balls for a six in the third man region

 KKR captain Shreyas did not get a run in this match despite leaving the field after winning the previous match.  He got out for 11 runs.  Russell scored 13 runs.  Narine was doing his job on one side even though no runs came at the other end.  He went after Rajasthan's two best arms, Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin.  Two spinners giving away runs was Rajasthan's problem.  Narine scored a hundred in just 49 balls.  He hit 13 fours and 6 sixes.  Pacer, spinner did not discount any bowler, this cricketer of West Indies.  Narine became the third cricketer of KKR to score a hundred in IPL.  In the end he scored 109 runs off 56 balls and was dismissed by Trent Boult.

 Rinku Singh pulled KKR's run towards the end.  He scored a breezy 20 runs off 9 balls.  In the end, KKR scored 223 runs after losing 6 wickets in 20 overs.  This is the highest run scored by KKR this season at the Eden.

In response, Yasswi Jaiswal started playing big shots from the start chasing runs.  But he could not make big runs again.  He was dismissed by Vaibhav Arora after scoring 19 runs off 9 balls.  Skipper Sanju also did not get a run in this match.  He returned by scoring 12 runs being dismissed by Harshit Rana .  Rajasthan batsmen had no choice but to play with unbridled aggression as the asking run rate was high.  That's what Jos Buttler and Ryan Parag were doing.  Parag is batting terribly well this season.  He was hitting big shots against pacers in this match as well.  Rajasthan reached 100 in seven overs.

 Harshit brought Kolkata back into the game.  Parag got out while hitting a six on his ball.  Russell took a good catch.  Parag scored 34 runs off 14 balls.  Due to fall of wickets, Rajasthan's pace of scoring also decreased.  Apart from the century with the bat, Narine also did his work with the ball. He dismissed   Dhruv  Jurel lbw for 2 runs.  If the umpire did not give out first, Shreyas took a review.  Rajasthan lost 4 wickets for 100 runs.

 Ashwin came to bat at number six rather surprisingly .  He also could not get going.  He was dismissed by Varun Chakraborty for just 8 runs off 11 balls.  Varun gave Rajasthan a big blow by dismissing Shimron Hetmyer for zero runs in the very next ball.

 Rajasthan started smashing after 15 overs.  Buttler was still at the crease.  He kept Rajasthan in the fight with 17 runs in the next over from Varun.  Rovman Powell accompanied Butler.  17 runs come in one over of Russell.  Powell hit Narine for two sixes and a four in the next over.  It seemed that the two batsmen would end the match.  However, he dismissed Powell for 26 runs in that over.  Narine took 2 wickets with 30 runs in 4 overs.

Rajasthan needed 46 runs to win in the last three overs.  It all depended on Butler.  Salt made a mistake in Starc's last over.  He could not catch a ball.  Wide ball goes to the boundary.  18 runs came in that over.  Starc disappointed once again.  25 crore pacer gave 50 runs in 4 overs.

 Buttler took 19 runs in the 19th over of Harshit Rana.  He single handedly took the game away from KKR.  Rajasthan needed 9 runs to win the match in the last over.  Butler showed that.  He put a smile on the face of the Rajasthan fans by hitting one more six and a century and scrambled a single off the final ball of the match from Varun Chakravarty to script a memorable victory when all seemed lost .