Picture Credit : BCCI
Having rather poor IPL 2018, till now , Kuldeep Yadav finally hit form and starred with an impressive four-wicket for 20 spell as he set up Kolkata Knight Riders to a comfortable six-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals.
Yadav’s magic arm completely exposed Rajasthan’s weakness against spin, as his four-for included the prized wicket of Jos Buttler, who stroked 39 from 22 balls.
Buttler at one stage threatened to take the match away as he was blistering form with the bat. But the moment he fell the Royals batting fell like cards, what looked like a 200 plus target suddenly ended at 142 all out.
Kuldeep foxed the Rajasthan Royals batsmen with his wrist spin as he registered career-best figures of four for 20 to bundle out Rajasthan for 142 from 19 overs. Royals were looking ominous at 59 for no loss after four overs, already their highest inside the powerplay, before the home side triggered a batting collapse taking six wickets for 31 runs.
KKR chased down the small target with ease with two overs to spare. Opener Chris Lynn scored a steady 45 from 42 balls before captain Dinesh Karthik finished off things with a quickfire 41 from 31 balls, finishing off the match with a six.
By this crucial win, KKR kept themselves in the hunt for a play-offs spot with 14 points from 13 matches.
