DINESH KARTHIK'S HEROIC 97 IN VAIN AS 17 YEAR OLD DOES THE JOB!!!

After Winning the toss, captain Steve Smith elected to field first at Kolkata.

KKR batting first, didn't have a good start as they lost Lynn early and soon followed by Gill. Varun Aaron started off very well with his extra pace and swing that he extracted. Nitish Rana came in and tried to string together a partnership but lost his wicket to Gopal. Dinesh Karthik, walking out at number 4 had to get a big score to get KKR out of the early collapse. KKR were struggling at the 10 over mark as they managed to get just 49 runs for 3 wickets.
But the 11th over changed the momentum as Dinesh Karthik let lose and KKR got 25 runs of Gopal's over. From here on Dinesh Karthik kept going as he lost partners at the other end. He accelerated in the end in a big way getting his last 47 runs off just 15 balls as he finished with an unbeaten 97 from just 50 balls to take KKR to a par score of 175 in 20 overs.

Rajasthan Royals got off to a flying start with Rahane and Samson striking the ball very well. The pacers for KKR were completely off-color and they leaked runs. The two spinners Narine and Chawla bowled brilliantly to bring KKR back into the game as they picked the top order quickly. Just as you thought that it was over for RR at 98/5 in 12.3 overs, 17-year-old Parag was still showing fight and was batting sensibly. Gopal chipped in with a quick 18 from 9 balls and then Jofra Archer came in to make a dent with the bat as well. They took it right to the end as Parag got out in the 19th over for a very well made 47 from 31 balls. With 9 needed off the last over, Archer finished the game in the first 2 balls of the last over hitting with a 4 and a 6.

The two KKR's spinners bowled very well with 45/5 in 8 overs, but the pace bowlers let them down as they conceded 119/2 in 10.2 overs which is where they lost the game. RR will feel happy about crossing the line on a close game, but would feel that they shouldn't have let it go this close and someone from the top order should have batted for longer.