Kolkata Hands Over Heavy Defeat To Knock Rajasthan Out Of IPL 2021

Kolkata Knight Riders have almost cemented their place in IPL 2021 playoffs after beating Rajasthan Royals by 86 runs on Thursday in Sharjah. 

Chasing a target of 172, RR were reduced to 4/13 in under four overs and 7/35 in nine overs. Shivam Mavi and Lockie Ferguson were wrecker-in-chief of the great Rajasthan Royals collapse. The fast bowling duo picked seven wickets among themselves. 

It almost looked like Rajasthan could get bowled out for their lowest total but Rahul Tewatia saved them from an embarrassing defeat as he fought alone for his 44 in 36 balls, which included five fours and two sixes.  

However, Tewatia couldn't do much as KKR wrapped up the lower order and bowled out Royals for just 85 in 16 overs. 

Earlier, KKR were put in to bat first and started consciously, scoring 34 from the powerplay but didn't lose any wicket. Venkatesh Iyer, who was playing in 38, tried to break the shackles and got bowled off Tewatia. 

Shubman Gill continued to anchor the innings as he reached his fifty however the rest of the batters couldn't capitalise on the starts they got. Dinesh Karthik and Eoin Morgan took KKR to a competitive total of 171/4 in the first innings. 

With this big win, Kolkata has almost confirmed their berth in the playoffs with a positive net run rate and Mumbai Indians will need to win by a huge margin tomorrow to enter the playoffs. 

Brief Scorecard: 

Kolkata Knight Riders - 171/4 (Shubman Gill - 56; Venkatesh Iyer - 38)
Rajasthan Royals - 85/10 in 16.1 overs (Rahul Tewatia - 44; Shivam Mavi - 4/21)