KKR vs RR IPL 2019: RR overcome Karthik’s 97, dent KKR’s playoff hopes

Courtesy of a brilliant team performance, Rajasthan Royals defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by seven wickets in the Indian Premier League 2019 and this defeat has severally hampered KKR’s chances of qualifying for the play-offs.

Meanwhile Dinesh Karthik’s brilliant knock of 97 runs off 50 balls went in vain as Riyan Parag scored 47 off 31 balls and Jofra Archer chipped in with 27 off 12 balls to take RR home.

Karthik boosts KKR to 175

2⃣ wickets
2⃣0⃣ runs
1⃣7⃣ dots

Presenting to you the Man-of-the-Match, @VarunAaron!#HallaBol #KKRvRR #RR pic.twitter.com/YTUaiItN3W

— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) April 25, 2019

KKR had terrible start to their innings as Varun Aaron making his comeback in IPL delivered a sensational new ball spell. The pacer claimed two wickets in his first three overs as Kolkata scored 32 runs in their Powerplays. Nitish Rana too fell in the 9th over and after 10 overs KKR had slipped to 49 for 3 wickets.

But then Sunil Narine and Dinesh Karthik upped the ante and hammered 25 runs against Gopal in the 11th over but Narine’s run-out in the subsequent over brought the brakes again.

WATCH: 4,6,6 – DK’s smash attack in over no.20

▶️▶️https://t.co/rhUby1iuRy #KKRvRR pic.twitter.com/FwXol8neGq

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 25, 2019

Russell too had a off-day and KKR headed towards a below par score. However Karthik had other ideas as he cantered 46 runs off his last 14 balls to take KKR to 175 runs in 20 overs.

Rajasthan in a puddle after solid start

For Rajasthan Royals, Ajinkya Rahane set the tone for the chase by scoring a quick-fire 34 off 21 balls while Sanju Samson scored 22 off just 14 deliveries. The duo scored 53 runs in just 5.2 overs for the first wicket but then the spin combination of Chawla and Narine claimed four wickets in the span of 14 balls including the price wickets of Steve Smith and Ben Stokes.

Riyan Parag emerges as the hero for RR

4⃣7⃣ magnificent runs off 31 balls – 5 fours and 2 sixes! Take a bow, @ParagRiyan

Unlucky how the knock ended. Let’s finish this now! #HallaBoil #RR #KKRvRR pic.twitter.com/Vq76mEGpo1

— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) April 25, 2019

With four down for 63 and and no proven big-hitter to finish the game, the task seemed daunting for RR. However youngster Riyan Parag stepped up to the occasion and scored a valiant innings of 47 of 31 balls.

Jofra Archer too made a valuable contribution of 27 off just 12 balls to steer Rajasthan home in the last over.