IPL6: Rajasthan beat Kolkata by 19 runs

Kolkata Knight Riders are bowled out for 125 in 19 overs as Rajasthan win Game 8 of IPL6 by 19 runs at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Monday.

Chasing a target of 145, Kolkata lost wickets at regular intervals struggling to keep ahead of the required rate.

Eoin Morgan kept alive their hopes with a blistering knock of 51 off 38 balls with three sixes and three boundaries.

His dismissal in the 19th over ended their faint hopes of a win and a close finish.

Trivedi and Cooper finished with three wickets apiece while Yagnik had three victims behind the stumps.

Earlier, Rajasthan Royals made 144-6 propelled by Rahane's 36 and Brad Hodge's belligerent unbeaten 46 off 31 balls which contained seven boundaries.

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS INNINGS

Cooper clean bowls Morgan to dash Kolkata's hope.

E Morgan b Cooper 51 (38b 3x4 3x6)

Morgan slams a huge six to get his 50 off 33 balls.

Lee goes attempting an ambitious shot as Rajasthan's hopes of victory fade.

B Lee c Shukla b Sreesanth 5 (6b 1x4 0x6)

Morgan's consecutive boundaries lift Rajasthan's hope.

Tait claims his first wicket as Rajasthan suffer another setback.

R Bhatia c Binny b Tait 12 (7b 2x4 0x6)

Productive 13th over for Kolkata Morgan hammering a six and Bhatia a boundary.

Lee goes attempting an ambitious shot as Rajasthan's hopes of victory fade.

B Lee c Shukla b Sreesanth 5 (6b 1x4 0x6)

Morgan slams Trivedi for huge six.

Trivedi claims his third wicket as Rajasthan tighten the noose.

L Shukla c Shukla b Trivedi 2 (9b 0x4 0x6)

Morgan punishes Sreenath for a boundary in his first ball.

Yusuf Pathan goes for a duck as Cooper strikes in his second over.

Y Pathan c Yagnik b Cooper 0 (2b 0x4 0x6)

Rajasthan tighten grips with a double strike by Trivedi.

Yagnik takes a brilliant overhead catch to dismiss Gambhir of Trivedi.

G Gambhir c Yagnik b Trivedi 22 (22b 1x4 1x6)

Trivedi strikes with his first delivery trapping Tiwary lbw.

M Tiwary lbw b Trivedi 14 (13b 1x4 0x6)

Gambhir's lofted shot of Cooper's ball falls in no man's zone.

Tiwary lofts Shukla for his first boundary.

Kolkata are reeling after Shukla's double strike.

Shukla strikes twice within the space of three balls as Kallis nicks a wide delivery to be caught behind by Yagnik for his seventh duck in IPL.

J Kallis c Yagnik b Shukla 0 (1b 0x4 0x6) 

Rahul Shukla strikes with his second delivery knocking back the stumps of Bisla in the third over.

M Bisla b Shukla 1 (4b 0x4 0x6)

Gambhir has smashed a boundary and six off Sreeshanth's first over which goes for 14.

Sreeshant to bowl the first ball to Gambhir as KKR begin chasing a target of 145.

Brad Hodge hit an unbeaten 46 off 31 balls with seven boundaries to steer Rajasthan Royals to 144 for six after being put into bat by Kolkata Knight Riders in Game 8 of IPL6 at Jaipur.

Rahane also contributed a fluent 36 off 34 balls at the top while Yagnik smashed a six and a boundary to set KKR a stiff target with a late flurry.

Narine finished with two for 28 while Kallis also went for 28 as Rajasthan smashed 30 in the last two overs.

RAJASTHAN ROYALS INNINGS

Yagnik sacrificed his wicket after Hodge turned down a second run.

D Yagnik run out 16 (11b 1x4 1x6)

Narine goes for 18 in the 19th over with Dishant Yagnik hammering a six and boundary after Hodge steered him to third man earlier.

Hodge hits a boundary off Lee in the 18th over which produces eight runs.

Narine has struck twice in three balls with Cooper swinging and missing to be stumped by Misra as Rajasthan lose their way after a fine recovery.

K Cooper st Bisla b Narine 0 (2b 0x4 0x6)

Narine strikes with the second ball of a new spell as Rahane is caught behind attempting to steer him to third man.

A  Rahane c Bisla b Narine 36 (34b 3x4 1x6)

Rahane added 38 runs in 31 balls for the fourth wicket with Hodge.

Hodge is continuing his assault with another belligerent hit to the fence off Ahmed as the 100 of the Rajasthan innings comes in the 15th over.

Rahane has stroked the first six of the match hoisting Shami Ahmed over extra cover.

Hodge pulls Bhatia over midwicket for another boundary in the 14th over after play resumes following a brief interruption.

Play has been interrupted because there is smoke around the ground because something is being sprayed.

Hodge gets another boundary through point off Shukla who goes for 10 in the 13th over.

Narine conceded just two runs in his second over.

Hodge has smashed the first ball he faced from Shukla to the boundary cutting him past backward point.

Shukla has struck with his first delivery trapping Binny leg before as the batsman shuffled across.

S Binny lbw b Shukla 14 (11b 3x4 0x6)

Binny has hit a couple of boundaries off Bhatia in the 10th as Rajasthan reach 63-2 at the halfway stage.

Binny sends Kallis crashing to the point boundary with a delightful cut to bring up the 50 of the Rajasthan innings in the ninth over.

Rahane is batting calmly at the other end on 23 off 19 balls having hit three boundaries.

Bhatia strikes with his fifth delivery in the eighth over bowling Dravid who plays all over it.

R Dravid b Bhatia 17 (20b 2x4 0x6)

The skipper departs after adding 35 runs for the second wicket with Rahane.

Dravid cracks his third boundary as Kallis concedes six in his first over.

Rahane smashes his third boundary in the final ball of Narine's first over as RR make 35 for the loss of Watson in the Powerplay overs.

Spin introduced as Narine comes into the attack with RR 27-1.

Dravid whips Lee off his toes for his first boundary in the fifth over.

Rahane has cracked consecutive boundaries off Shami Ahmed through cover and third man in the fourth over as Rajasthan counter attack.

Watson has hit the first boundary of the match through extra cover in the third over.

But attempting to punch Lee again through the covers next is caught by Morgan.

SR Watson c Morgan b Lee 5 (10b 1x4 0x6)

In fact, Watson is not only disappointed but his bat handle is broken after that ferocious shot.

Lee concedes one wide in the opening over on a green top at Jaipur which has surprised everyone.

The return of Watson who will also bowl despite not doing so for his country is the focus of attention with IPL founder Lalit Modi tweeting: "Good to see Watson back." (@LalitKModi)

Brett Lee bowls the first ball to Watson who survives a confident leg before appeal off the second ball.

Gautam Gambhir won the toss and invited Rajasthan to take first strike on a pitch which had a tinge of green.

Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) play their first away fixture of the IPL6 season when they take on the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Game 8 at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.

Former Indian batsman turned comentator Sanjay Manjrekar has tweeted: "Absolutely brilliant outfield here in Jaipur.. Can have a snooker game on it after the cricket." (‏@sanjaymanjrekar)

Both teams come into this fixture after beating the Delhi Daredevils in their respective opening games.

While the Kolkata Knight Riders registered a convincing win in the season opener, the Rajasthan Royals held their nerves to clinch a run-run victory at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Saturday.

Both captains Dravid and Gambhir were among the runs in the opening match.

The Rajasthan Royals will be bolstered by the availability of Shane Watson as they play their first match at home.

Shaun Tait is also in as they replace Kusal Perera and Samuel Badree.

KKR go in with the same four overseas players from their first game - Kallis, Morgan, Lee and Narine.

However, Shami Ahmed replaces Balaji.

Teams

RR XI: Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Dravid (captain), Shane Watson, Stuart Binny, Brad Hodge, Kevon Cooper, Dishant Yagnik (wk), Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Rahul Shukla, Shaun Tait, Siddarth Trivedi

KKR XI: Manvinder Bisla (wk), Gautam Gambhir (captain), Jacques Kallis, Manoj Tiwary, Yusuf Pathan, Eoin Morgan, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Rajat Bhatia, Brett Lee, Sunil Narine, Shami Ahmed

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