Match 49 of IPL 2018 culminated in a contest between the Rajasthan Royals and the Kolkata Knight Riders. KKR won the toss and opted to bowl first. Rajasthan once again experimented with their opening duo, this time sending Rahul Tripathi with Jos Buttler.
The two got off to a flying start with Tripathi smashing 27 runs and Buttler scoring another 39 runs. Tripathi was soon dismissed and skipper Ajinkya Rahane took his place. Unfortunately, he didn’t last long as he was sent back for just 11 runs. Shane Warne’s favoured player, Sanju Samson also didn’t survive long at the crease, returning for just 12 runs.
Ben Stokes lasted just 11 runs while Stuart Binny and Krishnappa Gowtham managed 1 and 3 runs respectively. Jaydev Unadkat got back into the double digits before going out for 26 runs. Ish Sodhi and Joffra Archer added another 1 run and 6 runs respectively. Anureet Singh was the last man standing on 3 runs. RR put up a total of 142 runs with all 10 wickets down.
via Imago
Ajinkya Rahane, Rajasthan Royals
When the Kolkata Knight Riders took to the crease for the second inning of RR vs KKR in IPL 2018, openers Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn raced away. Narine would perish after 21 runs but Lynn forged ahead. Robin Uthappa managed only 4 runs before being caught by Rahul Tripathi. Nitish Rana made another 21 runs before being trapped for LBW. Lynn’s luck ran out eventually and he was stranded on 45 runs. But then Dinesh Karthik and Andre Russell came to the party. The two of them guided KKR home and free with an unbeaten 41 and 11 respectively. KKR scored 145 runs to win the match easily and secure their berth in the playoffs.
In the bowling department, every one of the KKR bowlers had at least one wicket between them. Kuldeep Yadav came away with the most wickets, namely 4. His scalps included Jos Buttler, Ajinkya Rahane, Ben Stokes and Stuart Binny. For the Royals Bowlers, Ben Stokes and Ish Sodhi were the only players with wickets to their credit. Stokes came away with 3, including Narine, Lynn and Uthappa.
