Credit: Google
On Tuesday night, Eden Gardens witnessed a thrilling match as the Rajasthan Royals (RR) scraped over the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Chasing a challenging 224-run goal, RR won on the final ball because of Jos Buttler’s brilliant century and some key late-inning cameos from Riyan Parag, Rovman Powell.
KKR got off to a flying start owing to a blazing performance from Sunil Narine, who scored his first IPL century at a remarkable strike rate of 194.64 (109 runs off 56 balls). Buttler, mimicking Narine’s heroics, answered with a brilliant 107* off just 60 balls, striking at an incredible 178.33.
However, the turning point of the match came down to the contrasting approaches of the lower-order batsmen from both sides. While the other KKR batsmen, excluding a quickfire cameo from Rinku Singh (20 runs off 9 balls, strike rate 222.22), failed to capitalize on the strong platform laid by Narine, RR benefitted from explosive cameos by Riyan Parag and Rovman Powell.
Parag (34 off 14 balls, strike rate 242.86) and Powell (26 off 13 balls, strike rate 200.00) played with exceptional aggression, their strike rates exceeding a staggering 200. This late blitz proved to be the difference-maker in this high-scoring contest.
While Buttler’s century clearly laid the basis for the chase, Parag and Powell’s gutsy hitting enabled RR to chase down an apparently unachievable target and emerge victorious from the jaw’s of defeat. The only difference between the two teams was the number of batters with 200+ strike rates. In KKR, only Rinku Singh has a 200+ strike rate, but in RR, Parag and Powell have a destructive strike rate.
