KKR not only defeated RR and eliminated them from the tournament but also crushed the hopes of Punjab Kings and surely the chances of Mumbai Indians as well.
While PBKS are now definitely out of the playoffs race, KKR’s win – and as commanding one at that – has meant that MI’s task to beef up their NRR past the Kolkata side versus Sunrisers Hyderabad is also nearly impossible now.
In their clash against SRH on Friday, the five-time winners and defending Premier League champions will have to win by a minimum of 171 runs with a score of at least 200 to have their NRR going past KKR’s. If Mumbai Indians are declared to be batting second, their playoff chance will be gone at the toss itself.
MI have a NRR of -0.448 with 6 wins from 13 matches; while KKR are now reaping the rewards of a string of good performances and have a positive NRR of +0.587 with 7 wins from 14 games.
KKR only further boosted their chances with a handsome win over RR, defeating them by 86 runs after posting a massive total of 171/4 on another dry Sharjah track.
KKR bowlers absolutely dismantled the RR batting unit and exposed the chinks in their armoury in an all-round display. The two-time champions dismissed their opposition to just 85 in 16.1 overs.
Just as MI had done to RR in their encounter in Sharjah, it wasn’t the spinners who troubled the Western-India rivals but the pacers, who bowled the hard lengths from high release points and got uneven bounce. Pacers Shivam Mavi (4/21) and Lockie Ferguson (3/18) ran through the RR batting unit, exploiting their weaknesses to great effect.
Spinners Shakib Al Hasan (1/1) and Varun Chakravarthy (1/14) also chipped in with a wicket each in the second half, where only all-rounder Rahul Tewatia (44 off 36) managed to take some fight back to the opposition.
The moment RR lost their two in-form top-order players – Yashasvi Jaiswal (0) and skipper Sanju Samson (1) – early in the piece, it was always going to be an uphill task for them.
Like their bowling, KKR’s batting rose to the occasion as well. Young opening batters Shubman Gill (56) and Venkatesh Iyer (38) gave their team a superb start, stitching another solid opening stand of 79 runs. That was the foundation that a KKR side with one eye on NRR boost needed.
Gill and Iyer gave their team’s middle-order the platform from where they can go for an all-out attack. Nitish Rana (12), Rahul Tripathi (21), Dinesh Karthik (14*) and captain Eoin Morgan (13*) went after the bowling in their useful little cameos and propelled their team past the 170-mark.
Chris Morris (1/28) and Chetan Sakariya (1/23) ended with fine figures on the night. But as has been the case with RR, their depth and inconsistency stood exposed once Jaydev Unadkat (0/35) and Mustafizur Rahim (0/31) failed to back Morris and Sakariya’s spells with some disciplined bowling on their part. The expensive fifth bowler’s quota was completed by Shivam Dube (0/18), Tewatia (1/11) and Glenn Phillips (1/17).
Defeat meant that RR finished with only five wins from 14 games to be out of the playoffs race; win has nearly ensured KKR a fourth-place finish in the table, an unexpected outcome at the end of the Indian leg in May when they had only two wins from their seven matches.
Brief scores
Kolkata Knight Riders 171/4 in 20 overs (Gill 56, Iyer 38, Sakariya 1/23, Morris 1/28) beat Rajasthan Royals 85 in 16.1 overs (Tewatia 44, Dube 18; Mavi 4/21, Ferguson 3/18) by 86 runs.
