In what was the joint highest target successfully chased down in IPL history, the Rajasthan Royals pulled off a shock win over the Kolkata Knight Riders by 2 wickets at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday, April 16, 2024.
Sunil Narine first put on a great show of six hitting as he completed his maiden IPL century to help KKR post 223 for 6 on the board.
At one stage Rajasthan were down and out at 121 for 6 in the 13th over, before Jos Buttler put on a master class of batting in a chase as he hit a 55-ball century, single-handedly guiding his team home.
Buttler and Avesh Khan added 38 runs for the 9th wicket to win the game for Rajasthan Royals.
Who was your best batter?
Jos Buttler
Ten days ago, on April 6, Buttler hit a century to take the Royals home against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
That century came after a string of unlikely poor Buttler scores this IPL season. That ton was the confidence booster that Buttler needed for the rest of the tournament.
The Englishman started off his innings by pummelling Mitchell Starc for a couple of fours and then lofting Vaibhav Arora's juicy full toss for a six over long on in the Powerplay.
Against some smart, accurate, bowling in the middle overs from Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine in particular, Buttler was stifled at one end while wickets kept tumbling at the other.
In the post-match chat on Jio Cinema, Buttler spoke of how he used Head Coach Kumar Sangakkara's pep talk on being positive and how there's a breaking point to fight back.
And fight back he did to shift the momentum in Rajasthan's favour. At one stage of his innings, Buttler was on 42 off 33, but turned on the screws in the latter quarter of the innings, hammering 65 runs off just 27 balls.
He dealt in singles and two for most part of the innings until the 15th over he hammered Chakravarthy -- coming back for his second spell -- for 17 runs including four boundaries.
Buttler got brief assistance from Rovman Powell who took on fellow West Indians Andre Russell and Narine for three massive sixes and a boundary. That was the impetus Buttler needed to push himself while batting with the tailenders.
Buttler made Starc his bunny as he clobbered the Australian for 18 runs in the 18th over, including a six and a four, to bring the equation down to 28 off 12 balls.
Harshit Rana was also at the receiving end as Buttler spoiled the bowler's otherwise decent figures, smashing him for two sixes and a four while running hard to ensure he kept the strike with 9 needed off 6.
KKR were penalised for slow over rate and they could only have four fielders outside the circle in the final over making things a little more easy for Buttler, who finished it off with a six off the first ball to bring up his 7th IPL century.
Three dots, a few jitters later, a quick couple and a single took Rajasthan home.
Riyan Parag
Parag has enjoyed batting at his favourite No. 4 spot this season. When Rajasthan were in a tight spot after losing Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson inside the Powerplay overs, Parag stepped on the accelerator as soon as he made his way to the crease. He got off the mark with a streaky boundary off the fourth ball he faced after Harshit Rana tested him the first two balls.
Parag went after Vaibhav Arora in the very next over, taking him to the cleaners, hitting him for two boundaries and a six. Those clean shots were evidence of Parag's good form.
Parag's duel with Harshit continued two overs later with the Rajasthan batter getting on top of the KKR bowler, first whipping him for a six over mid wicket and then slicing the ball through backward point for a four.
Parag scored two more singles in the over before Harshit got the last laugh as the batter holed out in the deep. Parag's entertaining 34 off 14 upped RR's run rate a bit in an otherwise barren period.
He has now scored 300 plus runs in IPL 2024.
Sunil Narine
Sunil Narine is going through a dream season with the bat for KKR in IPL 2024.
Narine has been dismantling every bowling attack he has come up against, as his promotion to the opener's role has worked wonders for the Knights this season.
He has powered his way to 276 runs in six games at a strike rate of 187 to be third on the run-scoring list behind Virat Kohli and Riyan Parag.
He was at his belligerent best against the Royals, smashing his maiden T20 century -- hitting 109 from 56 balls. He delighted the Eden Gardens crowd with his stunning strokeplay, smacking the Royals bowlers to all parts of the ground, slamming 13 fours and six sixes.
Avesh Khan had Narine duck early on with a sharp rising bouncer before the West Indian got back, hitting the pacer for a four over mid on. After the early dismissal of opening partner Phil Salt for 10, Narine took it upon himself to get the boundaries in the Powerplay.
He went after Kuldeep Sen in his first over, as he swung the pacer for a six over midwicket and slammed the next ball straight back for a four.
The way he targetted the Royals' spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal was particularly impressive. He hit Ashwin for successive boundaries in his opening over and slammed Chahal for a straight six in the next over.
He repeated the dose on Ashwin with another six straight down the ground to bring up his his fifty from 29 balls, with KKR well-placed on 100/1 in 10 overs at the halfway mark.
Ashwin tried all the tricks in his book, including bowling full and wide to Narine, who just looked to hit everything out of the ground. The off-spinner came in for further punishment at the hands of Narine, who hit a six and couple of fours in the 12th over.
Chahal also couldn't come up with a strategy to counter the West Indian. The KKR opener took Chahal apart as he slammed the leggie for two sixes and as many fours in his final over to race to his maiden IPL century from 49 balls.
He is the third KKR batter to hit an IPL century after Brendon McCullum and Venkatesh Iyer.
He was finally cleaned up by a beauty from Trent Boult, who bowled him with a cracking yorker.
Narine walked back to a standing ovation after a superb 109 from 56 balls, which was instrumental in powering KKR to a huge 223/6.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi
Angkrish Raghuvanshi is certainly one of the finds of this IPL season.
The 18-year-old KKR batter played another knock of substance against the Royals to make everyone stand and notice.
Bought by KKR for Rs 20 lakh (Rs 2 million), he played a sparkling innings of 30 from 18 balls, which included five cracking boundaries.
Coming into bat at No. 3 after Salt's early wicket, Raghuvanshi made sure that KKR didn't lose the momentum in the Powerplay. He showed his class when he hit Boult for three boundaries in the fifth over.
He gave Boult the charge to flick him in the gap through midwicket before hitting two good shots through the off-side.
His cut shot against Chahal stood out as he rocked back to the short ball to cut it in the gap past point. While Narine attacked from the other end, Raghuvanshi held his own as the duo put on 85 runs for the second wicket.
KKR Vs RR: Pick Your Best Batter
