IPL 2020 KKR vs RR Match 54: Morgan’s blitzkrieg knocks Rajasthan out

Tags: Indian T20 League 2020, Kolkata XI vs Rajasthan XI, 54th Match at Dubai, Nov 01, 2020, Kolkata XI, Rajasthan XI

Published on: Nov 01, 2020

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Kolkata Knight Riders turned up the heat in Dubai today, with their skipper leading the easy as they thrashed Rajasthan Royals by 60 runs, and ending their IPL campaign. With this win, KKR are still alive in the competition and are dependent on the results of the next two games.

It was a do or die game for both the sides, and Smith decided to chase today, having won the toss. Jofra Archer picked up Rana for a golden duck and got his team off to a dream start. However, that brought up a period of quick scoring, as Gill and Tripathi showed a lot of intent with the hopes of enhancing the net run rate. The pair slammed four boundaries against Gopal in the 4th over and followed it up with two against Aaron in the sixth, to bring their team total to 55-1 at the end of the fielding restrictions.It was a do or die game for both the sides, and Smith decided to chase today, having won the toss. Jofra Archer picked up Rana for a golden duck and got his team off to a dream start. However, that brought up a period of quick scoring, as Gill and Tripathi showed a lot of intent with the hopes of enhancing the net run rate. The pair slammed four boundaries against Gopal in the 4th over and followed it up with two against Aaron in the sixth, to bring their team total to 55-1 at the end of the fielding restrictions.

Just as runs were flowing, Rahul Tewatia brought his team back in the match, as he scalped Gill and Narine inside four balls. Tripathi too had lost his touch and perished to Gopal in the 12th over. The flurry of wickets continued as DK was dismissed for a first ball duck, giving Tewatia his third.

Morgan and Russell then showed that they had reserved their best for this match as they went about their business in a very brutal fashion. Morgan hammered 20 runs against Gopal in the 14th over, and followed it up with three consecutive sixes against Stokes in the penultimate over. Russell struck three sixes and a four in his knock of 25(11). Morgan’s innings of 68(35) consisted of five fours and six massive sixes. KKR finished with a mammot total of 191-7 at the end of their 20 overs.

RR needed to win this desperately, and preferably with a huge margin. That didn’t happen as Cummins picked up Uthappa in his very first over, in spite of going for 19 runs earlier in the over. He followed it up with two massive wickets of Stokes and Smith, as RR were dented early in the chase. The need of the hour was to wither the storm and bat sensibly for a few overs, but Samson nicked one behind while trying to play an extravagant drive and had to go back to the pavilion. Parag gave in to the Cummins storm, giving the pacer his fourth wicket inside three overs.

At 37-5, all seemed lost for RR, but Tewatia and Buttler grinded to keep their hopes afloat. With a couple of overs quietly passing by, the pair decided to open up with a few boundaries with the required rate well over 11. Buttler was looking in fine touch, before he found Cummins at deep mid-wicket against the bowling of Chakravarthy. Tewatia then hit a couple of boundaries off Narine to keep the hopes somehow alive, but his wicket ended those right away. After that, it was just a matter of time, and Shreyas Gopal hit some fine shots in his knock of 23, to make sure Rajasthan played the 20 overs.

Scorecard I Points Table

-- Jatin Shad

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