Mumbai: Sanju Samson’s uncharacteristic batting and Chris Morris’ excellent bowling helped Rajasthan Royals to a 6-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday.
The win helped Rajasthan move from the bottom of the table to move to 6th place behind Punjab Kings with four points from five matches.
Earlier, Sanju Samson won the toss for Rajasthan Royals and opted to bowl first at the Wankhede Stadium. Eoin Morgan’s Kolkata Knight Riders will bat first and will look to set a big target. However, KKR’s struggles with the bat continued as some disciplined bowling helped Rajasthan Royals restrict KKR to 133 in 20 overs with Chris Morris bagging 4/23.
Kolkata Knight Riders were off to a slow start with Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana finding it difficult to score against disciplined bowling from Rajasthan pacers. However, Shubman Gill once again failed to get going after he was run out by Jos Buttler with KKR reeling at 25/1 after the end of powerplay.
While Rahul Tripathi and Nitish Rana looked to anchor the KKR innings, a short ball from Sakariya sent Rana back on 22. Sunil Narine, promoted to No 4, could not last long either. Captain Eoin Morgan, who has been going through a rough patch, also departed early after a mix-up between him and Tripathi cost him his wicket without facing a ball.
While Dinesh Karthik tried his best to keep the scorecard ticking, Russell lasted only 7 balls. Soon, Karthik also departed. In the end, Chris Morris’ 4/23 helped Rajasthan Royals restrict KKR to 133.
During the chase, Rajasthan were off to a decent start with Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler surviving an early assault from Shivam Mavi. But Varun Chakaravarthy made the difference, sending Buttler back for 5. Jaiswal followed suit with Mavi sending him back for 22. However, skipper Sanju Samson with Rahul Tewatia continued to anchor the innings. In the end, Samson remained unbeaten on 42 to guide the side to a 6-wicket victory over KKR.
