A sensational century from Jos Buttler (107* off 60 balls) and fiery cameos from Riyan Parag (34 off 14 balls) and Rovman Powell (26 off 13 balls) propelled the Rajasthan Royals (RR) to a thrilling two-wicket victory over the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Tuesday.
RR Climbs to Top Spot
With this win, RR climbed to the top of the IPL standings, boasting a record of six wins and one loss for 12 points. KKR remains in second place with four wins and two losses, collecting eight points.
KKR Sets Target of 224
Earlier, a blazing knock of 109 runs from 56 balls by Sunil Narine powered KKR to a competitive total of 223/6 in their allotted 20 overs. Narine's knock became a historic one, as he became the first cricketer to achieve both a century and 100 wickets in the IPL.
Rajasthan's Chase
Chasing 224, RR got off to a decent start with Yashasvi Jaiswal (19 off 9 balls) scoring boundaries before being dismissed by Venkatesh Iyer. Skipper Sanju Samson (12 off 8 balls) also fell cheaply, caught by Sunil Narine off Harshit Rana's bowling.
Buttler Anchors Chase
Riyan Parag and Jos Buttler steadied the ship for RR with a 53-run stand in the powerplay. Parag (34 off 14 balls) was aggressive, hitting boundaries before being caught by Andre Russell off Rana's bowling.
Buttler's Heroics
Despite losing wickets at regular intervals, Buttler remained composed, reaching his first fifty of the tournament in 36 balls. He continued to find boundaries and brought up his second century of IPL 2024 and his seventh overall in the league in just 55 balls.
KKR Threatens Comeback
KKR bowlers, particularly Varun Chakravarthy (2/27) and Narine (2/30), picked up crucial wickets in the middle overs, threatening to derail the chase. However, Rovman Powell (26 off 13 balls) provided valuable support to Buttler before being dismissed by Narine.
Buttler Finishes the Job
With RR needing nine runs in the final over, Buttler reached his century and sealed the victory with a last-ball boundary. Trent Boult was run out for a duck in the penultimate over. Avesh Khan (2/35) and Kuldeep Sen (2/42) were the leading wicket-takers for RR.
Brief Scores:
- KKR: 223/6 (Sunil Narine 109, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 30, Rinku Singh 20*; Avesh Khan 2/35)
- RR: 224/8 (Jos Buttler 107*, Riyan Parag 34, Sunil Narine 2/30)
