Dubai: Inspired Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) bowlers set the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on fire as they came out all guns blazing to help their team to a thumping 37-run win over Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the 12th IPL match here on Wednesday night.
After winning the toss at the Dubai International Stadium in Dubai on Wednesday, Rajasthan Royals captain Steve Smith opted to bowl first in the game. KKR got off to a shaky start as they lost opener Sunil Narine (15) cheaply before Gill added 46 runs for the second wicket with Nitish Rana (22). Gill once again looked in fabulous touch as he notched up 47 off 34 balls laced with 5 fours and a six.
Andre Russell was promoted at number 4 but he couldn’t make much of an impact. The West Indies all-rounder did smash three huge sixes but was dismissed on just 24 off 14 balls as he failed to convert his good start into a big knock. Eoin Morgan’s quickfire 34 off 23 balls helped KKR post a fighting total of 174 runs on the board in 20 overs.
Chasing the target, half of the RR side was back to the pavilion with just 42 runs on board. The RR side suffered a top-order collapse as all their in-form batters – Smith (3), Sanju Samson (8), Jos Buttler (21), Robin Uthappa (2), and Riyan Parag (1) – fell cheaply.
Moreover, RR’s young batting sensation Rahul Tewatia, who was one of the architects of their previous win, failed to replicate the show as he fell for 14. That left RR reeling at 66/6. Shreyas Gopal (5), Jofra Archer (6) and Jaydev Unadkat (9), too, couldn’t do much while Ankit Rajpoot remained unbeaten on seven runs as RR went down by 37 runs.
With the win, KKR have jumped to second in the points table helping Delhi Capitals (DC) also to jump back to top position. Both KKR and DC have same points (4) but DC are on top because of better Net Run-Rate (NRR).