Jos Buttler and Yuzvendra Chahal did the star turns as Rajasthan Royals defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by seven runs in a thrilling Indian Premier League 2022 match at the Brabourne Stadium on Monday.
Asked to bat first, RR rode on a 63-ball 101 by Buttler to post 217/5 in their 20 overs. In reply, KKR were in with a shout as skipper Shreyas Iyer scored 85 off 51 but Yuzvendra Chahal’s five-for, which included a hat-trick, ensured they were bowled-out for 210 in 19.4 overs.
Chahal took the first hat-trick of IPL 2022 in a dramatic four-wicket over to finish with figures of 5/40. He was declared the player of the match for his brilliant performance.
Chahal sent back Shreyas Iyer and then took down Shivam Mavi and Pat Cummins. He had dismissed Venkatesh Iyer earlier in that over and Nitish Rana earlier in his spell. It was the 21st hat-trick in the IPL and fifth by a Royals bowler after Ajit Chandila, Pravin Tambe, Shane Watson and Shreyas Gopal.
Chasing a daunting target, KKR got runs at the top of the order as Aaron Finch scored a 28-ball 58 and added a free-slowing partnership with Iyer. The two-time IPL champions needed 40 off 24 with six wickets in hand but that over by Chahal turned the match on its head.
Another key moment in the game came a little earlier when Ashwin Ravichandran (1/38) sent the dangerous Andre Russell packing for a first-ball duck with a peach of a delivery.
Earlier in the match, Buttler slammed his second century of the season to join an elite list of IPL cricketers. The 31-year-old hit nine fours and five sixes against the likes of Pat Cummins, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarthy, Umesh Yadav and Russell to strengthen his grip on the Orange Cap.
While Buttler anchored the innings, RR also got key contributions with the bat from opener Devdutt Padikkal (24 off 18), skipper Sanju Samson (38 off 19) and Shimron Hetmyer (26* off 13) down the order.
For KKR, Sunil Narine was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/21 from his four overs. He was by far the most economical bowler in the match.