RR in the pink of health

PTI

Kolkata, April 16

Jos Buttler swung his bat merrily on way to a 60-ball 107 and single-handedly lifted Rajasthan Royals to a sensational two-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders, pulling off the IPL’s biggest run chase here today.

Asked to bat first, Sunil Narine’s 109 off 56 balls powered hosts KKR to a formidable 223/6 in front of a packed Eden Gardens.

Brief scores

• KKR: 223/6 in 20 overs (Narine 109, Raghuvanshi 30; Avesh 2/35, Kuldeep 2/46) vs RR: 224/8 in 20 overs (Buttler 107*, Parag 36; Narine 2/30, Chakaravarthy 2/36)

Monday’s result

• SRH: 287/3 (Head 102, Klaasen 67, Samad 37*, Markram 32*; Ferguson 2/52) vs RCB: 262/7 (Karthik 83, du Plessis 62, Kohli 42; Cummins 3/43, Markande 2/46)

224RR pulled off IPL’s biggest run chase, equalling their own record from 2020 when they chased down 224 against Kings XI Punjab in Sharjah

But Buttler had other ideas as he dragged RR, from a precarious 121/6 in the 13th over to the target of 224 off the last ball after the visitors needed 46 runs in the last three overs and 28 in 12 balls.

Batting first on a fresh pitch, Narine blazed away to a 49-ball 100 to lead KKR’s charge in a top-of-the-table clash. Trent Bolt eventually got the better of Narine, but not before the opener had bludgeoned 13 fours and six sixes, displaying supreme confidence and skill against one of the best attacks of the IPL.

It was a one-man show as Narine batted till the 18th over, first stitching an 85-run stand with Angkrish Raghuvanshi (30) and then adding 51 runs with Andre Russell (13).

However, Buttler had the last laugh as Narine’s maiden T20 hundred went in vain.

The England white-ball captain, who missed the previous match due to a niggle, anchored the chase with utmost precision, hitting nine fours and six sixes overall. Wickets kept falling at the other end and RR were reduced to 186/8 in the 18th over over, but Buttler showed little nerves. Needing 28 from the last two overs, Buttler had to be calculative and he did just that.

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