Young opener Shubman Gill was the only batsman to put up a decent score as Kolkata Knight Riders posted 174/6 against Rajasthan Royals at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday, 30 September.
Rajasthan Royals captain Steve Smith handed the ball to a total of seven players during the 20 over innings. Jofra Archer returned with 2/18 while Ankit Rajpoot, Tom Curran, Jaydev Unadkat and Rahul Tewatia picked up a wicket each. Riyan Parag remained wicketless while Shreyas Gopal was the most expensive bowler, returning with 0/43 in four overs.
Put in to bat, KKR opener Sunil Narine once again failed to make a mark with the bat, falling to pacer Unadkat for a 14-ball 15.
Gill then stitched a 46-run stand with Nitish Rana. The partnership was broken by Tewatia, who dismissed the latter for 22 (off 17 balls) and reduced KKR to 82/2 in 10 overs.
Soon after, England pacer Archer caught and bowled Gill for 47 (off 34 balls) and none of the incoming batsmen after that managed to stitch a solid partnership.
After going for a duck in their previous match against Sunrisers Hyderabad, KKR captain Dinesh Karthik produced another disappointing performance, falling for 1. Big-hitting Andre Russell smashed four huge sixes but was dismissed for a 14-ball 24.
Englishman Eoin Morgan helped KKR avoid a collapse, and finished with an unbeaten 23-ball 34.
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