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RR vs KKR Match Highlights IPL 2021 Match - 18th
Sanju and Miller guide RR to the first victory in the League this season
Rajasthan Royals (RR) registered their first victory in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL), defeating Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 6 wickets with 7 balls remaining. In reply to KKR's 13 for 9 RR scored 134 at the loss of 4 wickets in 18.5 overs. Even after Jos Buttler failed to click (5 off 7 balls) team captain, Sanju Samson (unbeaten 42 off 41 deliveries) and David Miller’s (unbeaten 24 off 23 balls) patient knock guided RR to a convincing victory.
However, Rajasthan Royals (RR), winning the toss on Saturday, asked Kolkata Knight Riders to bat first. The team which is placed at the 7th position has replaced Kamalesh Nagarkoti with Shivam Mavi. RR however has brought in promising batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal and experienced pacer Jaydev Unadkat in the playing eleven.
But the falling of wickets and the ultimate score KKR made today, reflected that the major deficiency in the team’s last three previous matches has not been repaired. The upper-order of the KKR batting as usual struggled also against RR bowling as they did in the last three previous matches.
Nitish Rana got out for 22. But he took 25 balls to score the paltry amount of runs at a strike rate of only 88 and Rahul Tripathi, batting at number three position, scored a 26-ball 36 at a better strike rate of 138.46. This apart, Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine, and captain Eoin Morgan-all three batsmen failed to click, creating pressure on the middle-order. KKR's first wicket fell at 24 while within the next 70 runs the team had lost four wickets. Had Dinesh Karthik not tried to give some effort, scoring 24-ball 25 runs in the middle covers, KKR’s score would not have reached 133 in 20 overs. Andre Russell (9) and Pat Cummins (10) however did not click as they exhibited tremendous performance against CSK in the team’s previous match.
However, looking at RR bowling, Chris Morris, the most expensive cricketer of the IPL this season, justified his price with the ball on the day, being the most successful bowler of the team, picking up 4 wickets for 23 runs in 4 overs. Jaydev Unadkat, Chetan Sakariya, and Mustafizur Rahaman managed one wicket each.
