Yashasvi Jaiswal scored unbeaten 98 runs to help Rajasthan Royals dominate Kolkata Knight Riders (Pic Credit: Sportzpics)
Yashasvi Jaiswal enthralled the crowd at Eden Gardens with his sublime batting after Yuzvendra Chahal spun his web around the KKR batters.
Record-breakers Yuzvendra Chahal and Yashasvi Jaiswal powered Rajasthan Royals to a dominating 9-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League match on Thursday. Jaiswal enthralled the crowd at Eden Gardens with his sublime batting after Chahal spun his web around the KKR batters to become the leading wicket-taker in IPL history.
Jaiswal was at his destructive best as he smashed the fastest-half century in Indian Premier League history – 13 balls. He started attacking from the first ball itself as KKR were put under pressure while defending the moderate 150-run target.
KKR skipper Nitish Rana put himself into the attack in the first over and Jaiswal stamped his authority over him by smashing 26 runs off his six balls which included three fours and two sixes.
Jaiswal missed his much-deserving century by just 2 runs and remained unbeaten on 98 runs. He finished the match for Rajasthan with a four as they won the match with 41 balls to spare.
Apart from him, Sanju Samson scored a valuable 48 runs* for Rajasthan as they didn’t allow Kolkata to make a comeback in the second innings.
With the win, Rajasthan have now moved up to the third spot on the points table behind Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings.
Jaiswal completed his half-century in the third over with a single off Shardul Thakur’s delivery. He smashed 7 fours and three sixes en route to his half-century. Meanwhile, he ended up smashing 13 fours and five sixes.
Also Read | Yashasvi Jaiswal Scripts History, Scores Fastest Half-century in IPL History
Kolkata Knight Riders’ bowlers ended up wicketless as Jos Buttler, the only dismissed RR batter, was run out for a duck.
Samson gave able support to Jaiswal and guided the young batter throughout the chase. The skipper hit 2 fours and 5 sixes during his 29-ball knock.
Earlier, spin maestro Chahal became IPL’s leading wicket-taker before completing a brilliant four-wicket haul as Rajasthan Royals restricted Kolkata Knight Riders to a below-par 149 for eight.
The spin maestro got the better of Rana in his first over itself as he broke the crucial partnership between the KKR skipper and Venkatesh Iyer to put pressure on the hosts.
On a day RR dished out an eye-grabbing fielding display, Chahal grabbed two wickets in three balls when he dismissed KKR top-scorer Venkatesh Iyer (57; 42b) and Thakur (1) in the middle overs before ending with figures of 4-0-25-4.
It was a poor batting display from KKR as their openers Jason Roy (10) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (18) became the victim of Trent Boult in powerplay. Rana and Iyer tried to rebuild the innings but too many dot balls put pressure on them as Rana went for a big shot against Chahal and was dismissed for 22.
Iyer switched gears in the second half of his innings but was dismissed before giving his team a finishing touch. KKR’s assigned finishers Andre Russell (10) and Rinku Singh (16) also had off day.
