KKR restricted RR to 152 for five after bowling first and then chased down the target with five balls to spare to get back on track and heaved a sigh of relief.
as it happened , Achievement: , Mark sheet
Nitish Rana (48 not out) followed while Rinku Singho Playing an unbeaten 42 off 23 balls helped KKR chase down the target with ease.
Aaron Finch’s poor run continued as he was quickly cleaned up by Kuldeep Sen as KKR made a quiet start to his chase.
KKR’s batsmen were finding it difficult on the slow pace of the Wankhede pitch where shots were not easy to make at all.
(BCCI/IPL photo)
Baba Indrajit (15) was soon bounced out by the famous Krishna but the captain Shreyas Iyer (34 off 32) and Nitish Rana batted sensibly to help KKR reach fifty in nine overs.
It was Rana who finally managed to free his arms in the 11th over, and used sweeps and reverse sweeps to take 16 runs to beat R Ashwin 4-6-4.
Iyer then caught Yuzvendra Chahal at the long-on boundary and shared a half-century with Rana for the third wicket.
When Iyer seemed to be loosening up, he threw Samson behind the stumps in the next over off Trent Boult. Iyer hit three fours and a six in his innings.
Nitish Rana clinched the @KKRiders 7-wicket victory with a maximum to end it and added two needed points to his tee… https://t.co/1d9Wf7SU76
– Indian Premier League (@IPL) 1651514342000
New Man Singh made his debut at the crease by hitting a four off the first ball.
With 46 needed off 30 balls, Singh played the shot of the day, hitting Sen at 141 kmph with a paddle scoop, his legs high and powerful over the fine leg fence.
Singh meant business as he found the fence on crucial occasions to bring the equation down to 31 runs in the first 18 balls.
Samson’s decision to bring Chahal back into the attack in the 18th over backfired as Singh took advantage of his opportunity against the spinner and scored 18 runs in the last 12 balls with successive fours.
Singh continued his attack against Famous, who conceded 17 runs in the final over, including two boundaries off the left-arm blade, as KKR wrapped up the match in style.
Earlier, KKR restricted RR to 152 for five despite a half-century from rival skipper Samson.
For RR, Samson’s 54 off 49 balls was the only saving grace, as wickets fell at regular intervals.
The KKR bowlers justified the decision of captain Iyer in which he asked the opposition team to bat first by taking quick wickets.
A late attack from Shimron Hetmyar (27 not out off 13 balls) took Rajasthan past the 150-run mark.
RR lost opener Devdutt Padikkal (2) cheaply as pacer Umesh Yadav (1/24) caught a comeback in the third over.
Samson, who hit seven fours and a six, joined form with Jos Buttler (22 off 25 balls; 3×4) and the two tried to rally the innings, putting on a 48-run stand for the second wicket as KKR The bowlers of the RR did not allow the batsmen to free their arms.
Samson carved through point to hit his first boundary in the fourth over as RR was dismissed for 12.
Samson and Butler tried to break the bond in the fifth over, giving RR 15 runs. Both hit Umesh for three boundaries, with the captain hitting two of them.
Samson dismissed Anukul Roy (1/28) at deep extra cover for his first maximum as RR scored 11 runs in the sixth over, 38 in the power-play. The RR skipper then hits another boundary off Sunil Narine (0/19).
But RR slipped to 55 for two after the pacer Tim Southee (2/46) removes a rusty looking Butler, which is caught by Shivam Mavi at long on.
Samson hit two consecutive fours off Mavi (1/33) but was devoid of partners. He could only manage 35 runs with Karun Nair (13) and 25 runs with Riyan Parag (19).
Karun (13), Parag (19) and Samson fell in quick succession as RR slipped from 90 for three to 115 for five.
While Nair became the only victim of left-arm spinner Roy, Parag was caught by Roy at deep-mid wicket by Southee.
Samson tries to score a quick goal and gives Singh a skier at deep midwicket.
Hetmyer and Ashwin (6 not out) added 37 not out off 18 balls to take RR’s total past 150 runs.