Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) defeated Rajasthan Royals by one run in a thrilling match. This match between KKR and Rajasthan was very close and in the end the team managed to register an important win in Kolkata. KKR has thus kept its hopes alive for the playoffs. This is the second time in the IPL that KKR has won a match by one run. Earlier, it had defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by the same margin last season.

KKR won the toss in this match and decided to bat first and scored 206 runs for four wickets in 20 overs with the help of Andre Russell's stormy innings. In response, captain Riyan Parag batted brilliantly for Rajasthan, but the team could only score 205 runs for eight wickets in 20 overs. This is KKR's win by the lowest margin in IPL. At the same time, Kolkata has defeated Rajasthan for the first time since 2019 at its home ground Eden Gardens. From 2008 to 2018, KKR won six matches against Rajasthan at their home ground, while losing one. At the same time, since 2019, Rajasthan had defeated KKR three times in a row at Eden Gardens, but this season Kolkata was successful in breaking this spell.

Playoff hopes remain

Defending champion KKR's hopes of reaching the playoffs are still alive. KKR has 11 points with five wins, five losses, and one draw in 11 matches and is in sixth place in the points table. On the other hand, the Rajasthan team, which has already been out of the race for the last four, is in eighth place. Rajasthan won three out of 12 matches and has lost nine matches.

Rajasthan did not have a good start.

While chasing the target, Rajasthan did not have a good start and the team lost five wickets at a score of 71 runs. After this, Ryan Parag along with Shimron Hetmyer made a partnership of 92 runs for the sixth wicket and rescued the team from difficulty. Ryan hit five consecutive sixes on Moeen Ali's over during this period. This partnership was broken by Harshit Rana by dismissing Hetmyer who was out after scoring 29 runs. Shortly after this, Harshit also made Ryan his victim. Ryan could not complete the century and returned to the pavilion after scoring 95 runs.

22 runs were needed in the last over
Rajasthan needed 22 runs to win in the last over and Shubham Dubey and Jofra Archer, who came on the crease as impact players, were present. KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane handed the ball to Vaibhav Arora. Archer took two runs on the first ball and one run on the second ball. Shubham, who came on strike, hit a six on the third ball and a four on the fourth ball. After this, he hit a six on the fifth ball. Now Rajasthan needed three runs on one ball. Shubham stole a run off Vaibhav's ball and ran to take the second run, but was run out on Rinku Singh's throw. In this way, KKR registered a thrilling win.

Yashasvi Jaiswal scored 34 runs for Rajasthan, while Shubham Dubey returned unbeaten after scoring 25 runs off 14 balls with the help of one four and two sixes. Archer was dismissed after scoring 12 runs. At the same time, Vaibhav Suryavanshi scored four runs and Kunal Singh Rathore, Dhruv Jurel and Wanindu Hasranga could not even open the account. For KKR, Moeen, Harshit, and Varun Chakraborty took two wickets each, while Vaibhav got one wicket.

Russell played an explosive innings.
Earlier, Andre Russell played a fiery innings for KKR, who won the toss and came to bat first. Russell scored an unbeaten 57 off 25 balls with the help of four fours and six sixes, while Rinku scored an unbeaten 19 off six balls with the help of one four and a six. Batting first, KKR did not have a good start and the team lost its first wicket at a score of 13 runs. Yudhveer Singh bowled Sunil Narine who scored 11 runs off nine balls with the help of one four and a six. After this, captain Ajinkya Rahane and Rahmanullah Gurbaz took charge of KKR by sharing 50+ runs for the second wicket. Gurbaz was looking in good rhythm, but Mahesh Teekshna broke this partnership by dismissing him. Gurbaz was dismissed after scoring 35 runs off 25 balls with the help of four fours and a six.

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