The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) team and fans were inconsolably distraught as they lost a must-win game at the hands of Rajasthan Royals (RR). Sanju Samson and co were sensational from the word go and inflicted a crushing 9-wicket victory over the hosts.
Yashasvi Jaiswal put on an exhibition of supreme-level batting as he simply tore apart the KKR bowling line-up. The first over of the RR innings went for 26 runs as the gamble of Nitish Rana bowling himself didn’t go according to the plans.
And Jaiswal didn’t stop from there. After Jos Buttler got run out, Sanju Samson came to the fore. He had a cautious start but later joined in on the fireworks too.
In the 12th over, Yashasvi Jaiswal took a single and went off strike. RR needed 3 runs to win and Sanju Samson was on strike. The cricketer from Kerala then defended a wide delivery from Suyash Sharma and signaled Jaiswal to hit a six as he was batting on 94*.
Everyone lavished praise on the captain’s selfless act as he himself was batting on 48*. He didn’t go for his half-century and helped his young batter get an opportunity to reach the milestone.
Eventually, Jaiswal hit a four in the next over off Shardul Thakur but celebrated in an extravagant and animated manner. The entire crowd at Eden Gardens stood up from their seats and applauded this masterclass of an inning. They knew they witnessed something special and something for the ages.
KKR lost the plot from the 1st over itself
Having to defend only 150 runs in the batting-friendly Eden wicket, KKR needed early wickets. Perhaps this was the reason why the skipper rolled over his arm in the very first over.
But the throw in the dice resulted in a big blunder as Rana was smeared across the park. He ended up conceding 26 runs in the over and Jaiswal had put his team in pole position right from the start of the game.
RR now are in the 3rd position of the points table and have 12 points under their belt, with 2 games to go. They also have a positive run-rate of +0.633.
Also read: IPL 2023: 3 Talking Points Of KKR vs RR Game
