Russell, Narine powerless as KKR suffer fourth-straight loss
MUMBAI, India (CMC) — Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) slumped to the bottom of the Indian Premier League (IPL) with their fourth-straight defeat after Andre Russell and Sunil Narine failed to spark, as Rajasthan Royals came away with a comfortable six-wicket win here yesterday.
Although desperate to break their losing skid, KKR faced an uphill task once they were limited to an inadequate 133 for nine off their 20 overs at the Wankhede Stadium, with Russell managing only nine and Narine, six.
Rahul Tripathi top-scored with 36 off 26 and Dinesh Karthik got 25 from 24 balls, but KKR found themselves pegged back by South African medium pacer Chris Morris who finished with four for 25 from his four overs.
In reply, Royals overhauled their target with seven balls to spare despite a miserly four-over spell of off-spin from Narine who conceded just 20 runs.
Captain Sanju Samson hit 42 not out off 41 balls and South African David Miller, an unbeaten 24 off 23 balls, to see their side to only their second win in five matches, leaving them three from bottom on four points.
KKR, meanwhile, lie rock bottom on two points, having won a single match, and now face a difficult path to the playoffs.
Sent in, they never found their footing and needed Tripathi, who struck one four and a brace of sixes, to keep the scoreboard ticking over.
Entering at number three, Tripathi put on 33 with Karthik for the fifth wicket to repair the innings after KKR had slumped to 61 for four in the 11th over, with Narine third out in the 10th top-edging pacer Jaydev Unadkat to long leg.
When Tripathi holed out to mid-wicket in the 16th over, Russell tried to rally the innings but struck one six before finding long on with Morris in the 18th, after adding 23 for the sixth wicket with Karthik.
Faced with a straightforward chase, Royals raced to 40 for two in the fifth over behind opener Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 17-ball 22, and Samson then anchored two key stands to erase any doubt about a KKR comeback.
Samson counted two fours and a six, putting on 45 for the third wicket with Shivam Dube (22) before posting 34 in an unbroken fifth-wicket partnership with Miller.
