Rajasthan Royals 224 for 8 (Buttler 107*, Parag 34, Narine 2-30, Varun 2-36, Rana 2-45) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 223 for 6 (Narine 109, Raghuvanshi 30, Avesh 2-35, Sen 2-46) by two wickets
Jos Buttler started slightly slow as Rajasthan Royals (RR) aimed to travel at more than 11 an over, making only 25 off his first 18 balls. He was at the crease during what seemed like a debilitating mid-innings slowdown, in which Royals scored only 30 from six overs, and lost three wickets in that time.
But although clearly still struggling with the injury that kept him out of the last RR game, and although rapidly running out of batting partners, Buttler stayed the course. He was there to clobber two sixes and a four off the penultimate over, to get the equation down to nine off the final six balls.
And despite Varun Chakravarthy having bowled three dots in that final over, Buttler was there to heroically hit the winning run off the final ball of the match.
Royals equaled its own record which it set in it’s chase against Punjab Kings (then called Kings XI Punjab) in 2020.
Highest successful run chases in the IPL:
RR chased down 223/2 vs PBKS in 2020
RR chased down 223/6 vs KKR in 2024
MI chased down 218/4 vs CSK in 2019
RR chased down 214/5 vs Deccan Chargers in 2008
MI chased down 214/3 vs PBKS in 2023
Buttler's feat meant that Sunil Narine's century, a staggering accomplishment in itself, was overshadowed. As were his figures of 2 for 30 off four overs.
As good as Buttler was, though, Narine was the game's MVP - he just had less support from his team-mates. Though known as a powerplay aggressor, he let Phil Salt and Angkrish Raghuvanshi take the lead early on, before blooming in the middle overs against the spinners. He smacked R Aswhin for two sixes, and Yuzvendra Chahal for three, as both those bowlerse conceded in excess of 12 an over.
It was Narine's fours, though, that truly powered his innings. He hit 13 of them, all but four of them on the off side.
Although Narine had been impressive through the middle overs, he also accelerated towards the death. He hit 35 runs off the last 14 balls he faced. Most impressively, he motored from 79 to KKR's third IPL hundred in the space of one Chahal over, in which he crashed two sixes and two fours.
Rinku Singh provided some closing fireworks to the KKR innings, but Narine's best stand had been the 85-run second-wicket partnership with Raghuvanshi, who made only 30 of those runs. Such was Narine's early dominance.
Jos Buttler started slightly slow as Rajasthan Royals (RR) aimed to travel at more than 11 an over, making only 25 off his first 18 balls. He was at the crease during what seemed like a debilitating mid-innings slowdown, in which Royals scored only 30 from six overs, and lost three wickets in that time.
But although clearly still struggling with the injury that kept him out of the last RR game, and although rapidly running out of batting partners, Buttler stayed the course. He was there to clobber two sixes and a four off the penultimate over, to get the equation down to nine off the final six balls.
And despite Varun Chakravarthy having bowled three dots in that final over, Buttler was there to heroically hit the winning run off the final ball of the match.
Royals equaled its own record which it set in it’s chase against Punjab Kings (then called Kings XI Punjab) in 2020.
Highest successful run chases in the IPL:
RR chased down 223/2 vs PBKS in 2020
RR chased down 223/6 vs KKR in 2024
MI chased down 218/4 vs CSK in 2019
RR chased down 214/5 vs Deccan Chargers in 2008
MI chased down 214/3 vs PBKS in 2023
Buttler's feat meant that Sunil Narine's century, a staggering accomplishment in itself, was overshadowed. As were his figures of 2 for 30 off four overs.
As good as Buttler was, though, Narine was the game's MVP - he just had less support from his team-mates. Though known as a powerplay aggressor, he let Phil Salt and Angkrish Raghuvanshi take the lead early on, before blooming in the middle overs against the spinners. He smacked R Aswhin for two sixes, and Yuzvendra Chahal for three, as both those bowlerse conceded in excess of 12 an over.
It was Narine's fours, though, that truly powered his innings. He hit 13 of them, all but four of them on the off side.
Although Narine had been impressive through the middle overs, he also accelerated towards the death. He hit 35 runs off the last 14 balls he faced. Most impressively, he motored from 79 to KKR's third IPL hundred in the space of one Chahal over, in which he crashed two sixes and two fours.
Rinku Singh provided some closing fireworks to the KKR innings, but Narine's best stand had been the 85-run second-wicket partnership with Raghuvanshi, who made only 30 of those runs. Such was Narine's early dominance.
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