Rana, Rinku Guide Kolkata Knight Riders To A 7 Wicket Win Over Rajasthan Royals

Kolkata Knight Riders finally registered a win after losing five consecutive matches.

Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh's knocks after a disciplined bowling performance helped Kolkata Knight Riders break the five match losing streak and defeat Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets in match 47 of the IPL 2022 played at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. 

Chasing a slightly below target of 153, KKR didn't start well as they lost both openers - Aaron Finch and Baba Indrajith - cheaply and could only score 32 runs inside the powerplay. 

Shreyas Iyer and Nitish took time and added 60 runs in 43 balls, making sure Kolkata were in complete control of the required run rate and had wickets in hand for the final flourish. Iyer scored 34 in 32 balls before getting out in the 13th over. 

Rinku Singh was promoted to the number five and he along with Nitish added unbeaten 66 runs in 38 balls to finish the game for KKR. Rinku smacked 42 off just 23 balls with the help of six fours and a six; Rana on the other end scored 17 in 15 balls. The duo finished the game with five balls to spare. 

Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Sen, and Trent Boult took one wicket each for the Rajasthan. 

Earlier, RR were put in to bat first and only scored 38 runs inside the powerplay while losing Devdutt Padikkal cheaply. Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler added 48 in 39 balls for the third wicket. Buttler could score just 22 in 25 balls before he got out in the ninth over. 

Samson kept control of the scoring rate from one end but wickets continued to fall at regular intervals. Sanju made 54 in 49 balls but couldn't help in finishing the inning. Shimron Hetmyer made 27 off 13 to get the Royals past the 150-run mark. 

Tim Southee picked two wickets while Umesh Yadav, Anukul Roy, and Shivam Mavi got a wicket each for KKR. 

Brief Scorecard: 

Rajasthan Royals - 152/5 (Sanju Samson - 54; Tim Southee 2/46)
Kolkata Knight Riders - 158/3 in 19.1 overs (Nitish Rana - 48*, Rinku Singh - 42*)