Rajasthan Royals complete biggest run chase of IPL, beat KKR by 2 wickets | Cricket News

Jos Buttler happily swung the bat and scored a 60-ball 107 to single-handedly help Rajasthan Royals beat Kolkata Knight Riders by two wickets to complete the feat The biggest run chase of the IPL on Tuesday. Sunil Narine, who was asked to bat first, helped hosts KKR post a formidable 223/6 with 109 off 56 balls in front of a packed Eden Gardens. But Buttler had other ideas and he dragged the Royals down to 121/6 in the 13th over, crossing the target of 224 in the last ball of the match as the visitors scored 121/6 in the last three overs. 46 points are needed in the first round and 28 points are needed in the 13th round. 12 balls. Batting first at the new stadium, Narine blasted a 49-ball 100 to lead KKR’s charge in the table-top match.

Trent Boult eventually got the better of Narine, but in the opener he hit 13 fours and 6 sixes, showing a superb performance against one of the best attacks in the IPL Confidence and skill.

It was a one-man show for KKR as Narine batted till the 18th over, first hitting 85 with Angkrish Raghuvanshi (30) and then 51 with Andre Russell (13) point.

However, Buttler had the last laugh as Narine failed to score his first T20 hundred.

The England white-ball captain missed the last match due to a glitch but controlled the chase with razor-sharp precision, hitting a total of nine fours and six sixes.

The wickets kept falling at the other end, with RR reduced to 186/8 in the 18th over, but Buttler didn’t show any nerves.

Needing 28 runs from the last two overs, Buttler had to be smart and he bowled Harshit Rana for 19 runs while facing all the deliveries.

The destructive Englishman reached his century by hitting Varun Chakravarthy for a six in the first ball of the final over.

He refused to take any singles to guard tailback but got the job done in the final ball.

This is the joint-highest run-chase score in IPL history. Royals had previously achieved a target of 224 runs against Kings XI Punjab in Sharjah 2020.

The victory consolidated Royals’ 12-point advantage at the halfway stage of the league, four points ahead of KKR and consolidating their position at the top of the table.

Mitchell Starc, the most expensive purchaser of the IPL, proved to be rusty again as he took 0/50 with the ball and conceded 18 runs in his 18th over.

Earlier, Narine not only broke through easily but also launched a ruthless attack on Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal.

The Trinidadian reached his 50 off 29 balls and reached his first hundred in just 20 deliveries, pulling Chahal to the mid-off boundary.

Team owner Shah Rukh Khan, wearing a crisp white T-shirt, blew kisses from the stands.

On the field, his West Indies teammate Russell jumped for joy and gave him a bear hug, while Narine waved his bat and whispered in celebration.

Finally, Boult’s stunt ended Narine’s innings as the New Zealand left-arm pacer nailed a perfect yorker that also broke the leg stump, leading to some delays in the middle.

Royal Spinners had a bad day as Narine took center stage. Ashwin dropped four overs and conceded 49 runs in four overs, while Chahal returned with figures of 1/54 at full capacity.

This was followed by Rinku Singh’s nine-ball 20 not out, which included two sixes and one four, taking the total to over 200 as KKR scored 62 runs in the last 5 overs.

Avesh Khan (2/35) and Boult (1/31) are the picks of the Royals bowlers. Kuldeep Sen (2/46) also picked two.

Riyan Parag smashed a sitter off in-form England opener Phil Salt in the second ball of the match.

The defeat didn’t cost Royals much as Salter, who scored an unbeaten 89 against Lucknow Supergiants, was left behind due to a one-handed catch by Avish Khan. Got 10 points.

But the sloppy defending at the start seemed to have an impact, with Narine and youngster Raghuvansh seizing the momentum in a power struggle.

Raghuvansh’s superb timing was on full display when he hit Boult for three boundaries in the fifth over.

Narine hit a terrifying six over midwicket against Sen and then crossed the line for 16 as KKR posted 56 for 1 in the powerplay.

Narine was soon on full steam, bowling Chahal at long-off and hit an even bigger knock in the same area in the next over to reach his half-century off 29 balls.

The pair made it 100/1 for KKR in the mid-on, but Raghuvanshi threw away his wicket after mistimed his upper cut. But Narine continued the onslaught to support KKR.