KKR 206/4 in 20 Overs [Andre Russell 57*(25), Angkrish Raghuvanshi 44(31); Jofra Archer 1/30 in 4 Overs] beat RR 205/8 [Riyan Parag 95(45), Shubam Dubey 25(14); Varun Chakaravarthy 2/32 in 4 Overs] by 1 run

The Kolkata Knight Riders clashed against the Rajasthan Royals in what promised to be an extremely important encounter at the iconic Eden Gardens. With every victory extremely crucial, KKR looked forward to this game to get an inch closer to their playoff qualification. The fans were gunning to get behind their team and cheer to the top of their voices. KKR believed as they embarked to pick up another win and add to their points tally. After winning the toss, KKR opted to bat first with the afternoon heat around the stadium and with a history of having done well batting first. The KKR openers aimed to start positively and continue the momentum forward from the last game. Although KKR lost a wicket early, Gurbaz and captain Rahane kept the momentum going. Runs came thick and fast as KKR got on a roll against all RR bowlers. An unfortunate dismissal caused the partnership to break however the new partnership of Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Andre Russell put on a match changing partnership. Dre-Russ promoted up the order, smashed a rollicking half century to take KKR closer to a big total. Russell brought his absolute best back as he played a stunning 57-run innings to help KKR reach a massive total of 206 runs.

In the defence of this big total, KKR started off brilliantly as they got a breakthrough in the first over itself. An excellent running catch from skipper Rahane put RR on the backfoot. KKR stepped the pedal on the gas and they picked more quick wickets. RR were skittled to 71-5 in the run-chase as Varun Chakaravarthy rocked the RR middle order with two more wickets. KKR looked on course towards a win but a massive partnership between Riyan Parag and Shimron Hetmyer pulled it back for RR. An astonishing innings of 95 runs from Parag took the game away from KKR. However, it was the fighter Harshit Rana who picked up the crucial wicket of Riyan as the game took another turn. It went right to the wire as the brilliant death bowling from KKR saw RR have 23 runs left in the last over to chase. The game looked all but sealed yet Shubham Dubey turned it around as he smashed a few boundaries. It went right till the last ball with 3 runs needed off the last ball. In the crucial circumstance, Vaibhav Arora nailed a great delivery and as a result of a run out KKR completed an astonishing 1 run win. A spirited performance which will lift all of the team up as KKR looked to go all the way towards the playoffs.