After winning the toss, the Knight Riders decided to field first as expected.
The Rajasthan Royals lost the skipper early on to Prasidh Krishna. They were slow to get off the blocks as they struggled with the slowness of the pitch. Buttler and Steve Smith combined for a 72 runs partnership and then fell in the 12th over. From there Steve Smith tried his best to get going but could not accelerate as much as he wanted to. He ended up with an unbeaten 73 runs of 59 balls taking his team to a total of 139 in the 20 overs. Although Smith played a very good knock, 139 was below par on that surface. Harry Gurney making his IPL debut bowled very well as he picked up 2 wickets.
In return, Lynn and Narine got off to a blazing start, smashing the bowlers to all parts. They did have their own share of luck as Narine was dropped early on and Lynn in spite of the ball crashing on to the stumps, didn't get out as the bails didn't fall off. The pair put up a 91 runs partnership in just 51 balls as they took the game away from the Royals. From there it was just a matter of time as Uthappa and Gill finished off the match for KKR.
The Royals will definitely feel they should have got more runs on the board in spite of it being a slow pitch. The Kight Riders will be very pleased with this clinical performance, especially because they could do it without Russell's contribution.
