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Buttler century trumps Narine 100 as Rajasthan beat KKR on last ball

cricket16 April 2024 18:33| © MWP
By:Neil Manthorp
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An extraordinary hundred from Jos Buttler trumped a brilliant maiden century from Sunil Narine as the Rajasthan Royals beat the Kolkata Knight Riders by just two wickets off the final ball of their top-of-the-table IPL match at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Tuesday.

Narine guided the Knight Riders to a daunting total of 223-6 but, despite a stuttering start from Buttler, the regular fall of wickets and 48 required from the final 15 balls, the Royals prevailed in dramatic fashion.

Buttler finished with 107 from 60 balls (9x4, 6x6) having limped along at a run-a-ball for the first half of his innings but experience and confidence counted in the end as he struck the crucial boundaries required to win the game, even turning down singles in the final two overs to keep the strike.

Trinidadian Narine earlier improved his career-best for the second time in three matches and can no longer be considered a ‘pinch-hitter’ opening the batting, as he once was, having become just the third KKR batsman to reach three figures.

He reached the landmark from 49 balls with his 11th four to go with half a dozen sixes as he laid bare the carefully considered plans of the Royals bowlers who were helpless to prevent his unorthodox slice-drives and ability to hit almost any delivery straight back over the bowler’s head.

Narine was bowled by the pick of the bowlers, Trent Boult, in the 18th over for 109 from 56 balls with 13 fours and a six.

Fellow opener Phil Salt, match-winner in the previous game with an unbeaten 87, was brilliantly caught and bowled by Avesh Khan for 10 while Angrish Raghuvanshi (30 off 18 balls) carved a short ball straight into the hands of third man.

The Royals’ run-chase stuttered and faltered in the middle overs but Riyan Parag (34 off 14 balls) and Rovman Powell (26 off 13) kept the flame alight despite the clatter of cheap wickets and Buttler finished an extraordinary game with his famous cool, calculating approach.

The two teams have looked comfortably the most polished and well-balanced as the tournament nears its halfway point and had suffered just a single defeat each with Rajasthan having won five out of six matches and KKR four out of five.

A significantly better net run-rate sees the Knight Riders move to the top of the log with victory although they are level with the Royals on 10 points.

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS: Philip Salt (wkt), Sunil Narine, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Shreyas Iyer (captain), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Varun Chakaravarthy, Harshit Rana

RAJASTHAN ROYALS: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (captain/wkt), Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Kuldeep Sen, Yuzvendra Chahal

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