KKR vs RR; IPL 2024: Buttler’s century steals KKR’s joy

Experience the thrilling IPL 2024 clash between KKR vs RR as Jos Buttler’s unbeaten century propels Rajasthan Royals to a sensational victory over Kolkata Knight Riders.

Rajasthan Royals made a stunning comeback in the Indian Premier League match here on Tuesday, thanks to Jos Buttler’s unbeaten century, overturning Sunil Narayan’s first T20 century to defeat Kolkata Knight Riders by two wickets and strengthen their position at the top of the points table. Despite being in trouble at 121 runs for six wickets in the 13th over, chasing KKR’s target of 224 runs, Buttler’s unbeaten century on 60 balls, consisting of 107 runs with nine fours and six sixes, led Rajasthan to victory with 224 runs at the loss of eight wickets on the final ball. Ryan Parag (34) and Ravman Powell (26) also played useful innings.

From the Knight Riders’ side, Narayan (30 runs for two wickets), Varun Chakravarti (36 runs for two wickets), and Harshith Rana (45 runs for two wickets) each claimed two wickets, but couldn’t secure a win for their team. Narayan played a thunderous innings, scoring 109 runs off 56 balls with six sixes and 13 fours, which helped Knight Riders reach 223 runs for the loss of six wickets. He shared an 85-run partnership with Angkrish Raghuvanshi for the second wicket. After their departure, the team added an extra 21 runs, setting the third-highest score for the team. Rinku Singh (20 unbeaten off nine balls, two sixes, one four) played a brisk innings towards the end.

With this win, the Royals are comfortably positioned at the top with six wins out of seven matches, accumulating 12 points. Knight Riders, with four wins in six matches, are in second place with eight points. This victory is the biggest chase in IPL history. Previously, Royals had chased a target of 224 runs against Punjab Kings in 2020. While chasing the target, Royals had a rapid start but also lost wickets. Opening batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal managed to score 19 runs off nine balls before being caught by Venkatesh Iyer off Vaibhav Arora’s delivery.

Captain Sanju Samson, after winning the toss, invited Knight Riders to bat first. On the second ball of the match, Trent Boult (31 runs for one wicket) got lucky when Riyan Parag caught a simple catch on the point off his delivery. However, Salt couldn’t capitalize on it and fell victim to Avesh Khan’s delivery. Raghuvanshi showed aggression with three boundaries in Boult’s over, while Narayan smashed Kuldeep Yadav for consecutive sixes and a four.

Knight Riders scored 56 runs for the loss of one wicket in the powerplay. Narayan greeted the veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin with two consecutive fours and then struck Yuzvendra Chahal for a six as well. The left-handed batsman smashed an impressive half-century in just 29 balls off Ashwin and completed the team’s century in the 10th over with just 49 balls. Sen was caught by Ashwin off the bowling of Raghuvanshi.

However, Sen’s dismissal didn’t affect Narayan, who continued his onslaught by hitting two consecutive sixes and two fours off Chahal’s consecutive deliveries. Captain Shreyas Iyer (11) also struck a six off Chahal but fell on the next ball. Russell brought the team’s score past 150 in the 15th over with a boundary off Sen. Narayan completed his century in just 49 balls with two sixes and 10 fours on the next ball. Russell (13) was caught by Dhruv Jurel off Avesh’s delivery in the next over.

Boult bowled Narayan in the 18th over with a yorker. Rinku Singh completed the team’s double century in the 19th over with consecutive sixes and fours, and then struck a six off Sen in the final over as well. From Royals’ side, Avesh (35 runs for two wickets) and Sen (46 runs for two wickets) each claimed two wickets. Both spinners, Ashwin (four overs, 49 runs without a wicket) and Chahal (four overs, 54 runs for one wicket), proved to be expensive.