Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Rajasthan Royals by 7 wickets at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday to end their five-match losing streak in IPL 2022. Chasing 153, KKR were in a spot of bother but Nitish Rana (48 not out), Rinku Singh (42 not out) and Shreyas Iyer (34)ensured they got home against the Royals.
Earlier, KKR restricted RR to a modest 152 for five, despite rival skipper Samson’s half-century.
For RR, Sanju Samson steadied the RR innings with a 49-ball 54 but he did not get enough support from the rest of his batters.
KKR bowlers justified skipper Iyer’s decision to ask the opposition to bat first with quick wickets.
A late onslaught by Shimron Hetymar (27 not out off 13 balls) took Rajasthan beyond the 150-run mark.
RR lost opener Devdutt Padikkal (2) cheaply as pacer Umesh Yadav (1/24) grabbed a return catch in the third over. Samson, who hit seven boundaries and a six, joined in-form Jos Buttler (22 off 25 balls; 3x4s) and the duo tried to rally the innings, sharing 48 runs for the second wicket as KKR bowlers didn’t allow RR batters to free their arms.
Samson carved through the point to get his first four in the fourth over as RR crawled to 12 for one. Samson and and Buttler tried to break the shackles in the fifth over, which fetched RR 15 runs.
The duo hammered Umesh for three boundaries, with the skipper hitting two of them. Samson lofted Anukul Roy (1/28) over deep extra cover for his first maximum as RR amassed 11 runs in the sixth over, scoring 38 runs in power-play.
The RR skipper then cut Sunil Narine (0/19) for another boundary.
But RR slipped to 55 for two after pacer Tim Southee (2/46) removed a rusty looking Buttler, who was caught by Shivam Mavi at long on.
Samson struck two successive boundaries off Mavi (1/33) but was devoid of partners. He was able to add only 35 runs with Karun Nair (13) and 25 with Riyan Parag (19).
Karun (13), Parag (19) and Samson fell in quick succession as RR slipped to 115 for five from 90 for three. While Nair became left-arm spinner Roy’s only victim, Parag was caught by Roy at deep-mid wicket off Southee.
Shimron Hetmyer’s cameo at the end helped Rajasthan Royals post a respectable 152 for 5 off their 20 overs against a team which has struggled to get the right combinations for most of the season.
Watch ;- Shimron Hetmyer’s Back to Back Sixes against Southee
