Chahal's fifer overpowers KKR's run chase bravery against RR in IPL thriller
Mumbai/IBNS: Spin bowler Yuzvendra Chahal's fifer including a hattrick overpowered Shreyas Iyer-led Kolkata Knight Riders' marathon run chase against Rajasthan Royals by seven runs in another last over thriller in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Monday night.
Chasing a mammoth target of 218, Kolkata lost Sunil Narine through a run out but other opener Aaron Finch and skipper Iyer set their team on the roll.
With counter attacks from both the ends, Kolkata were successful in the run chase with more than 10 runs per over, thanks to Aaron Finch and Iyer.
The 107-run partnership was broken in the ninth over when Finch fell a victim of former Knight Prasidh Krishna.
Before heading to the dugout, Finch slammed a blistering knock of 58 off just 28 balls.
Iyer carried on and dealt with boundaries to keep Kolkata in the race.
However, the middle order let down the Knights with minimum contributions putting Kolkata in a spot of bother.
Though Iyer was single handedly fighting for his team, Chahal's hattrick in the 17th over brought Rajasthan close to their victory.
Chahal picked Iyer, who was batting at 85 off 51 balls, followed by Shivam Mavi and Pat Cummins.
Just when Rajasthan were aiming to seal the deal, Kolkata countered back in the form of Umesh Yadav, who started to deal with boundaries.
Yadav's heroics of 21 off just nine balls went to vain as he along with his partner Sheldon Jackson were dismissed by Obed McCoy to reduce Kolkata to 210 all out in 19.4 overs.
After Kolkata won the toss and invited Rajasthan to bat first, the Royals made the most out of it with opener Jos Buttler slamming his second hundred in the ongoing season of IPL and third overall in the tournament.
Buttle scored 103 off 61 balls to power Rajasthan to score 217/5 in 20 overs.
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