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Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) thrashed Rajasthan Royals (RR) in a one-sided contest at Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Thursday to strengthen their chances of making it in the playoffs.
Chasing 172, the only thing that the Royals did was losing wickets at regular intervals. The 2008 IPL winners were 35/7 at one stage when Rahul Tewatia and Jaydev Unadkat tried to calm things down. The duo added 27 runs for the eighth wicket, which was RR’s highest partnership in the match.
Tewatia scored 44 off 36 deliveries before Shivam Mavi dismissed him to bundle out the Royals for just 85. KKR won the contest by a massive margin of 86 runs.
Mavi was the pick of the bowler for the two-time champions, taking a four-wicket haul for 21 runs in 3.1 overs. Lockie Ferguson also shined with the ball as he bagged three scalps while conceding only 18 runs in his quota of 4 overs.
Earlier, the Knight Riders posted 171/4 in their allotted 20 overs, thanks to an explosive knock at the top by Shubman Gill and Venkatesh Iyer. The pair gave KKR a flying start forming a scintillating 79-runs partnership for the opening wicket.
While Iyer was sent back by Tewatia for 38 in the 11th over, Gill stayed on the crease and kept tickling the scoreboard. The right-handed batter scored a much-needed half-century to help his side reach a competitive total. Gill made 56 off 44 balls with the help of six boundaries.
Rahul Tripathi (21), Eoin Morgan (13 no), and Dinesh Karthik (14 no) chipped in with valuable contributions down the order to push the team’s total beyond the mark of 170.
Chetan Sakariya was the only bowler who impressed for the Royals. The left-armer picked up one scalp for 23 runs in his quota of 4 overs.
Here is how Twitter reacted:
This is brilliant cricket from @KKRiders UAE leg has been fruitful for them. #IPL2O21
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) October 7, 2021
Two captains (Morgan-Dhoni) are out of form with the bat but have taken their teams to the playoffs. Two captains with rocking form (Rahul-Samson) have their teams in the bottom half. Captain leading by example—leading from the front overrated? Thoughts? #IPL2021
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) October 7, 2021
#KKR you did it in style! Der aaye per kya durust aaye! Shivam Mavi chose a very important game to show his potential. #KKRvRR #RRvsKKR
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) October 7, 2021
Lagta hai hawao ka rukh phir se badal raha hai! #Sharjah giving us a glimpse of last #IPL . #KKRvsRR #IPL2021
— Pragyan Ojha (@pragyanojha) October 7, 2021
THAT. WINNING. FEELING! 👏 👏
The @Eoin16-led @KKRiders put up a clinical performance & seal a 86-run win over #RR. 💪 💪 #VIVOIPL #KKRvRR
Scorecard 👉 https://t.co/oqG5Yj3afs pic.twitter.com/p5gz03uMbJ
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 7, 2021
𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧. 💜💛#KKRvRR #KKR #AmiKKR #IPL2021 pic.twitter.com/maTDfdLrGV
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) October 7, 2021
A COMPLETE performance this from @KKRiders! Brilliant batting, world class bowling and then some outstanding fielding. This victory over @rajasthanroyals will be a massive boost to not only the run rate, but also the confidence of the team. WELL DONE #KKR!
#KKRvRR #IPL2O21 #IPL pic.twitter.com/NJ6l5hmjdP
— MANOJ TIWARY (@tiwarymanoj) October 7, 2021
Kolkata Knight Riders reduced RR to 35/7 today, which is now the lowest score at the fall of 7th wicket in IPL.
Prev lowest score at 7th wicket was also against KKR – it was 42 by RCB in 2017.#IPL2021 #KKRvRR
— Kausthub Gudipati (@kaustats) October 7, 2021
#KKR came to the UAE with very little chance of qualifying for the play-offs. Now they are marching there. It has been a truly wonderful turnaround
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 7, 2021
If Kane Williamson wins the toss tomorrow and bat first, at that moment "MI is officially out of IPL 2021".
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) October 7, 2021