Match number forty-three of the ongoing Indian Premier League saw a do-or-die match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals. While Kolkata was playing to move up in the league, Rajasthan was playing to stay alive in the tournament. While KKR captain played a hero's knock with his quickfire 97 off 50 balls, Rajasthan held their nerves and won the match by 3 wickets. Youngster Riyan Parag played an anchored innings to help his team achieve the target with 4 balls to spare.
Winning the toss, Rajasthan Royals captain Steve Smith asked Kolkata to bat first. Team KKR made changes in their opening pair and sent Chris Lynn and Shhubman Gill on top. Varun Aaron got Lynn on the third ball of the match. In the fifth over, Shubman Gill too was out after scoring 14 runs. Nitish Rana and Sunil Rana added quick runs to the total and departed after making 21 and 11 respectively. Andre Rusell didn't trouble much and just made 14 runs off 14 balls which included a huge six and was out on an Oshane Thomas delivery. KKR captain Dinesh Karthik, on the other hand, continued with big shorts and helped KKR post 175 on the scoreboard. Karthik remained unbeaten on 97 off 50 balls with the help of seven boundaries and nine huge sixes.
Coming in to bat second, Rajasthan's openers Ajinkya Rahane and Sanju Samson decided to go after the Kolkata Knight Riders bowlers. In no time, RR score went past 50. Before Rahane and Samson were out in quick successions. While Rahane made 34 runs, Samson made 22 off 15 deliveries. Steven Smith was out early and the Australian national just made 2 runs off 6 balls. Ben Stokes too had a small stay in the middle as the English all-rounder was out after making only 11 runs. Stuart Binny’s poor form continued as he too went cheaply after making 11 runs. Shreyas Gopal and Riyan Parag fought back against KKR bowlers as Gopal made quick 18, Parag made patient 47 off 31 balls with the help of five boundaries and two sixes. With 9 needed of the last over, first a four and then Archer hit the winning six for Rajasthan as they won the match by 3 wickets.
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