Easy For Kolkata Knight Riders Against Rajasthan Has Almost Placed Them In The Playoffs!!

Indian Premier League 2021: Easy For Kolkata Knight Riders Against Rajasthan Has Almost Placed Them In The Playoffs!!

It seems that we have found our four teams which have been made into the following. In match number 54 of IPL, Kolkata beat Rajasthan in a must-win game to put a strong claim on the fourth spot. The match was played in Sharjah Cricket Stadium where KKR thrashed the royals by 86 runs to win the match easily. Delhi Capitals, Chennai Super Kings, and Royal Challengers Bangalore have already qualified for the playoffs. Kolkata and Mumbai were the opponents to grab the 4th spot. 

With a massive win over the Royals, Kolkata has made things nearly impossible for the Mumbai Indians. After beating RR, KKR now has 14 points in 14 matches with a net run-rate of +0.587 which is far better than that of Mumbai.

Before that, it was Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson who won the toss and elected to field first. Kolkata’s openers proved his decision wrong as they post an opening partnership of 79 runs on the board. All-rounder Rahul Tewatia brought the first breakthrough for the Royals as he got the wicket of in-form Venkatesh Iyer. After that second wicket of KKR fell on 92 when Nitish Rana mishit the ball and got caught by Liam Living Stone. Glenn Phillips was the bowler. 

Then Rahul Tripathi handed Shubman Gill to take KKR over 100. Meanwhile, Shubman Gill hit another half-century. He got out as the third wicket. Chris Morris took his wicket. Gill made 56 runs on 44 balls with 4 fours and 2 sixes. In the 18th over, Chetan Sakariya sent Rahul Tripathi back to the dugout. 

Knight Riders’ Skipper Eoin Morgan and Dinesh Karthik took KKR to a decent total in the end. KKR finished at 171 for 4 in their 20 overs. Besides Gill, Iyer made 38 runs with the help of 3 fours and 2 sixes. 

In the response, Rajasthan’s batting line-up got shattered by KKR bowlers. The royals lost 4 wickets alone in the power play. Then, all-rounder, Rahul Tewatia played some shots and added some runs to the team total. He made 44 runs on 36 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes. He was the highest scorer from RR and also made 50% of the runs of RR innings. 

The pace duo, Shivam Mavi and Lockie Ferguson destroyed RR batting. Mavi took 4 wickets in 3 overs. Ferguson also scappled 3 wickets in his spell. Shakib Al Hasan and Varun Chakravarthy got 1-1 wickets each. While chasing the whole team of Rajasthan Royals got all-out on just 85. Besides Shivam Dube and Tewatia, no other batsman even go par 10. 

KKR is now a prominent option for the 4th spot with this win. Shivam Mavi has adjusted the man of the match for his fine bowling. 

How Mumbai Indians Can Still Reach To Playoffs?

Mathematically, Mumbai Indians can still make it to the top four. Indians have to play their last match against Sunrisers Hyderabad. To makeover the KKR’s run rate, Mumbai Indians need to win the match in terms of runs. They have to beat SRH by 171 runs after scoring more than 220. If SRH bats first, the game is all over for Mumbai. 

There is a tweet regarding the same, 

The play-offs equation for #MI — Mumbai have to win by around 171 runs after scoring 200 to get past #KKR's NRR.

If they chase, they can't go beyond KKR's NRR .. #IPL2021 #KKRvRR

— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) October 7, 2021

KL Rahul Impressive Batting Win The Match For Punjab Kings!

 Since it was a double-header on Thursday, in another match Punjab Kings outplayed Chennai Super Kings by 6 wickets to win their farewell match. It was Punjab who won the toss and elected to field first. 

With the help of innings from Faf Du Plessis, 76 from 55 balls CSK made 134 runs in their 20 overs. No other batsman could support Faf. In bowling, Chris Jordan and Arshdeep Singh took 2-2 wickets each. 

In response, Punjab chased the target in just 13 overs. Skipper KL Rahul remained unbeaten on 98 from 42 balls. Though he missed his century by 2 runs. From CSK, Shardul Thakur took 3 wickets. It was KL Rahul who was made the man of the match in the end.