RR vs KKR IPL live score: Finch, Shreyas fifty stand drives Knight Riders in 218 chase

Hello and welcome to Sportstar’s live coverage of the IPL 2022 match between Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders.

McCoy back into the attack.

TIME OUT!

KKR 74/1 in 7 overs- Yuzvendra Chahal into the attack. Finch seems to be in the mood, launches the second ball to the long-on fence for four. Finch smacks a straight four off the fifth. Finch ends the over with a four. 17 from it.

KKR 57/1 in 6 overs- Ashwin in the PowerPlay. Finch gets a single next ball. Shreyas pinches two off the next. Shreyas cuts handsomely for a four, brings up the 50 stand as well. Finch ends the over with a cracking six. This is now KKR’s PP score this season.

KKR 43/1 in 5 overs- Prasidh back for a second. Finch steals a tight single first ball. Dot ball. Shreyas squeezes a wide yorker to the third-man fence for four. Single to the KKR skipper off the fourth ball. Finch hits a four now, looking to make the most of the field restrictions. Prasidh concedes a wide. 1 off the last ball. 12 off the over.

KKR 31/1 in 4 overs- Obed McCoy into the attack. Very tidy start from McCoy. Just four from the over. KKR need 187 from 96 balls.

KKR 27/1 in 3 overs- Boult into his second. Appeal for lbw against Finch, going down leg clearly. Finch clips the next ball away for four. Finch is standing way outside the crease to counter the swing. Finch drives the fourth ball down the ground for four. Another stifled appeal for lbw but the ball is pitching outside leg and swinging further down leg. Dot to finish. 8 off the over.

KKR 19/1 in 2 overs- Prasidh Krishna shares the new ball. Shreyas gets an outside edge for four off the fourth ball. He follows it up with another four. 10 off the over. 199 needed to win off 108 balls.

KKR 9/1 in 1 over- Trent Boult with the new ball. Matthew Hayden, on air, confirms there is dew. OUT! Disastrous start for KKR as Narine is run out first ball. Finch took off a virtually non-existent single and a direct hit from Hetmyer catches Narine short. Shreyas Iyer, at 3, off the mark with a four. He makes it two in two with a gorgeous flick. Shreyas picks a risky single off the last ball.

Aaron Finch and surprise, surprise, Sunil Narine to open the batting. No Venky Iyer. KKR realise they need to bat at a rapid pace from get-go. Onus will be on Narine to maximise the PowerPlay.

– END OF INNINGS – ROYALS 217/5 in 20 Overs.

Russell to bowl the final over. Ashwin brings up the 200 with a single. Hetmyer on strike. Russell concedes a wide in trying to keep the ball away from Hetmyer’s hitting arc. Hetmyer takes full toll off the next ball; a full toss which is slammed over deep midwicket for six. He follows it up with another six down the ground. A loud grimace from Hetmyer as he swings and misses on the next ball – he felt it had six written all over it. Hetmyer turns down the single next ball and finishes with a four. RR end on 217/5, highest by any team this season. 18 off this over. KKR have a tall chase on their hands. They need 218 to win. Back shortly.

RR 199/5 in 19 overs- Here’s Mavi for the 19th. GONE! Excellent over from Mavi and now he gets a wicket, Nair holes out. Just four runs and a wicket off this over so far. Ashwin picks a single off the last. 5 runs and 1 wicket.

RR 194/4 in 18 overs- WHAT A CATCH! Or is it? Yes, it is. Take a bow, Pat Cummins. He has had a torrid time with the ball but makes his presence felt on the field. Parag has been caught. It was hit to long-off where Cummins came running in and caught the ball. But realising that he is going over the fence, he parries the ball to Mavi, who completes the catch. Nair has joined Hetmyer. This is Narine’s last over. 5 runs and a wicket. Narine tonight -4-0-21-2.

RR 189/3 in 17 overs- Cummins who? Buttler reaches his second hundred in IPL 2022 off a low full toss with a mammoth six! The short ball does him in. Buttler swivel pulls to find Chakaravarthy near the rope. Exquisite timing from Parag coupled with an ordinary effort in the deep sees the RR all-rounder pick up a boundary.

RR 174/2 in 16 overs- Andre Russell into the attack. GONE! The bowling change works as Samson goes for 38, trying to up the ante. TIME OUT! Shimron Hetmyer joins Buttler, off the mark with a single. Buttler races to 95 with a four. What timing and placement. He goes to 96 with a single. Good finish to the over Hetmyer too collects a four. 11 from it.

RR 163/1 in 15 overs- Buttler batting on 88. Umesh to bowl out. Buttler picks a single. Samson gives the strike back to Buttler with another one. Single off the third ball to Buttler. Into the nineties now. Samson hits a four off the fourth ball, gorgeous lofted extra cover drive. Samson takes 2 off the next ball before hitting a six off the last. 15 off this over. Samson is 38 off just 18 balls. Fabulous striking.

RR 148/1 in 14 overs- Varun is back. What a shot that from Samson – disdainfully launches the first ball over long-off. Single and a three off the next two. Samson’s running between the wickets has been brilliant. He runs two each off the fourth and fifth balls, respectively. 15 off the over including a wide.

RR 133/1 in 13 overs- Cummins in for his third. Continues to be at the receiving end of Buttler’s ire as he moves to 80 with a cracking four. He ends the over with another four. Power-hitting of the highest pedigree on display. 13 off it.

RR 120/1 in 12 overs- Narine into his third. 8 off the over including 4 leg byes. Narine so far – 3-0-16-1.

RR 112/1 in 11 overs- Mavi back for his 3rd. Good start with only five coming off the first four but Samson collects two fours off the last two balls to ruin Mavi’s numbers.

RR 99/1 in 10 overs- Narine into his second over. Buttler takes a single first ball. Padikkal sweeps the second ball for six. What a shot. Dot ball. GONE! Narine gets his breakthrough, Padikkal has been clean bowled. He goes for an 18-ball 24. Samson, in at 3, off the mark with a single. Buttler takes a single off the last ball. Nine runs and a wicket.

RR 90/0 in 9 overs- NUmesh Yadav is back into the attack. Buttler continues to pile misery on KKR, backs away and slaps it through deep extra for four. My word. Buttler is in some form. He clobbers the third ball over long-on for another six. He follows it up with yet another two. Single off the penultimate ball. Dot to finish. 13 from it. Umesh going at nearly 10 an over. 3-0-29-0.

RR 77/0 in 8 overs- Narine into the attack. Tidy start. Just three singles off it. Buttler retains strike.

RR 74/0 in 7 overs- Cummins to Padikkal, starts the over with two back-to-back fours. Cummins continues to leak runs this IPL. Padikkal takes a single first ball. Buttler brings up yet another fifty with a four, off 29 balls! 1 to finish. 14 off the over. Cummins has gone for 22 in 2 overs.

TIME OUT!

RR 60/0 in 6 overs- Shivam Mavi to Padikkal, no run. 1 leg bye off the next ball. Shivam Mavi to Buttler, no run. FOUR! Mavi drops short and Buttler has pulled it away for four. Next ball, Buttler lifts one through the off side and picks up six. Dot to finish.

RR 49/0 in 5 overs- Pat Cummins into the attack now. Buttler’s in the mood as he caresses the ball over mid-off for four. Buttler picks 2 runs next ball. Single to finish. 9 from it.

RR 40/0 in 4 overs- Varun Chakravarthy comes into the attack. Spin in the PowerPlay. SIX! Buttler has launched a half-tracker over the bowler’s head for a maximum! He pinches a double next ball. Buttler ends the over with a four. 15 off the over.

RR 25/0 in 3 overs- FOUR! Buttler breaks the shackles with a boundary to long-on off Umesh. SIX! Massive. Monstrous. Buttler has slammed a 100-metre six over long-on. What a strike. 10 off the first 2 balls. Good comeback from Umesh. Two dots follow. Sloppy from KKR. Umesh beats Buttler with a slower ball, Jackson can’t collect cleanly and the batters run a bye. They then steal a second courtesy an overthrow. Excellent from Buttler, who has run four off the last ball. 16 off it in the end.

RR 9/0 in 2 overs- Mavi to share the new ball. Buttler on strike. He pinches a single off the second ball. Padikkal flicks the third delivery through leg side for four. The batters run a leg bye next ball. Dot and a single to finish.

RR 2/0 in 1 over- Buttler to take strike. Slip in place. He starts with a dot. Four dot balls later, Buttler is off the mark with a single off the fifth. Umesh has overstepped. It’s a no-ball and a free hit for Padikkal. Padikkal swings and misses. Dot ball. And another dot to finish. Tidy start.

Jos Buttler and Devdutt Padikkal to open the innings. Umesh Yadav takes the new ball. Sunil Narine is featuring in his 150th match for KKR!

TOSS UPDATE- KKR HAS WON THE TOSS AND ELECTED TO FIELD.

Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing 11)- Venkatesh Iyer, Aaron Finch, Shreyas Iyer(c), Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Sheldon Jackson(w), Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Shivam Mavi, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy

Rajasthan Royals (Playing 11)- Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson(w/c), Karun Nair, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Obed McCoy, Yuzvendra Chahal

PREVIEW

Kolkata Knight Riders will look to quickly get back to winning ways when it takes on Rajasthan Royals at the Brabourne Stadium here on Monday.

Both teams come into the game on the back of big defeats in their respective last matches and will hope to turn things around quickly.

After a promising start with three wins in the first four matches, Knight Riders have been outplayed in its last two matches against Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad.

READ- SRH makes it four in a row as Bhuvneshwar, Umran overwhelm PBKS

A few concerns

The 2021 finalist has a few concerns with its batting as the openers are failing to give a good start.

Venkatesh Iyer has not been able to replicate the form he showed in the second half of last year’s IPL, while Ajinkya Rahane had meagre returns from the first five matches before he was replaced by Aaron Finch in the last match.

The two-time winner will also need skipper Shreyas Iyer and Nitish Rana to step up and produce some consistent performances.

The team’s bowling — led by the standout performer Umesh Yadav (10 wickets) and well supported by Sunil Narine — has been pretty good. However, Pat Cummins’ form is a worry as the Aussie pacer has gone at nearly 12 runs per over.

Royals come into the game after a big defeat to Gujarat Titans. The team’s bowling lacked firepower in the absence of Trent Boult and the 2008 champion will hope the Kiwi pacer is available for the game.

Another issue is the lower-order batting, with Riyan Parag unable to justify the opportunities he has got so far. He could be replaced by Yashasvi Jaiswal or Karun Nair, though it could cost the team a sixth-bowling option.