The final game of the last double-header weekend in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020, was scheduled between Playoff contenders Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Dubai, on Sunday.
The fanatics expected a nail-biting encounter with action going down to the wire, looking at the condition of the points table.
On the contrary, the game turned out to be one-sided in the end, with KKR winning by a hefty margin of 60 runs.
Earlier, RR skipper Steve Smith won the toss and elected to field first, backing themselves to chase down the total set by KKR. A mantra which had been successful for the Royals in their last few games.
Smith instantly got the desired result with the early wicket of Nitish Rana who registered a golden duck. Shubman Gill (36 off 24) and Rahul Tripathi (39 off 24) consolidated the innings with their counter-attacking strokes. The two youngsters added 72 for the second wicket.
From 73-1, KKR went through a mini-collapse, after being reduced to 99-5, with the wicket of Dinesh Karthik, who also registered a golden duck.
Moreover, the KKR batters continued to play their strokes fearless but also kept losing wickets. After Andre Russell’s cameo (25 off 11), skipper Eoin Morgan took the onus on himself to make sure KKR reach a competitive total.
Morgan played the defining innings in the match with his quickfire 68* off 35 deliveries. Striking at 194, the Irishman entertained spectators with five fours and six maximums. Captain Morgan single-handedly took KKR’s score to 191/7 by the end of 20 overs.
Chasing a monumental score for qualification, the Royals faced the Pat Cummins storm (4/34). The Australian ran through RR’s batting lineup with his opening spell where he picked four wickets.
The game was done and dusted within 5 overs as RR was reduced to 37/5, and their elite hitters back in the hut.
Jos Buttler and Rahul Tewatia tried their level best to resurrect the innings with their partnership. However, the two were left too much to do in the end. Spells from Shivam Mavi (2/14) and Varun Chakravarthy (2/20) helped KKR increase the stranglehold on the RR.
With the result, RR are on their way out of the tournament, while KKR has to play the waiting game to see whether they’ve qualified for the playoffs.
Brief Scores:
Kolkata Knight Riders – 191/7 in 20 overs (Morgan 68*, Tewatia 2/25) beat Rajasthan Royals – 131/9 in 20 overs (Cummins 4/34, Mavi 2/14) by 60 runs
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