In a riveting encounter at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Tuesday, Rajasthan Royals clinched a sensational two-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders, propelled by a scintillating century from Jos Buttler and explosive cameos from Riyan Parag and Rovman Powell.
With this victory, Rajasthan Royals surged to the top of the table, boasting six wins, one loss, and accumulating 12 points. Kolkata Knight Riders, on the other hand, occupy the second spot with four wins, two losses, totaling eight points.
The thrilling chase of 224 runs commenced steadily for Rajasthan Royals, with Yashasvi Jaiswal providing a decent start but falling victim to Harshit Rana after scoring a brisk 19 runs from just 9 balls. Skipper Sanju Samson also made a promising start before being dismissed by Rana for 12 runs.
Riyan Parag and Jos Buttler then propelled Rajasthan Royals with an electrifying partnership, particularly punishing Vaibhav Arora and Harshit Rana. Parag's aggressive stroke play was cut short by Rana, but Buttler continued to anchor the innings, reaching his half-century in 36 balls.
As the innings progressed, Buttler found an able ally in Rovman Powell, who injected momentum back into Rajasthan Royals' chase with his aggressive stroke play. However, Kolkata Knight Riders fought back through Varun Chakravarthy's pivotal spell, picking up crucial wickets to keep the game in the balance.
Buttler remained unfazed, reaching his second century of IPL 2024 in just 55 balls, guiding Rajasthan Royals to victory with an unbeaten 107 runs, decorated with nine fours and six sixes.
Earlier, in Kolkata Knight Riders' innings, Sunil Narine's blistering century powered his team to a formidable total of 223/6. Narine's explosive knock, comprising 13 fours and 6 sixes, made him the first player in IPL history to score a century and claim 100 wickets. Despite Narine's heroics, Rajasthan Royals' bowlers, led by Avesh Khan and Kuldeep Sen, managed to restrict Kolkata Knight Riders' scoring rate and set the stage for Buttler's heroics in the run chase.
