Twitter Reactions: Archer and Parag blitzkrieg eclipses Karthik’s 97 at the Eden Gardens

The match between the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and the Rajasthan Royals (RR) turned out to be a closely-fought one. The game went down to the last over and with nine runs required off it, Jofra Archer hit a four and a six off Prasidh Krishna to help the Royals win the encounter by three wickets. It was RR’s first win against KKR since 2008 even as the hosts are almost knocked out from this edition’s IPL.

Karthik weaves his magic

The Royals won the toss and elected to field on the belter of a wicket. The decision immediately paid dividends as Varun Aaron cleaned up Chris Lynn in the first over. Shubman Gill hit two fours before becoming the speedster’s second victim. Nitish Rana couldn’t find his timing either and crawled to a 26-ball 21. The tactic to send Sunil Narine in the middle order didn’t work as he could only manage 11 runs.

Andre Russell came to bat in the 12th over but looked in discomfort. He was dropped two times, but he couldn’t cash in on the lifelines and got out after scoring a run-a-ball 14. At the other end, Dinesh Karthik scored his half-century in 35 balls. DK kept accelerating and remained not out on 97 from 50 balls with seven fours and nine sixes. He guided the Knights to a substantial score of 175 in 20 overs.

Archer and Parag carve victory for RR

Ajinkya Rahane and Sanju Samson started the  Royals’ run-chase with a quickfire stand of 53 runs off 32 balls that set the platform for the rest of the innings. Rahane played his strokes and scored 34 from 21 with two fours. Narine trapped him plumb in front to break the partnership. In the next over, Piyush Chawla removed Samson. In the very next over, Narine accounted for the prized scalp of Steve Smith.

Ben Stokes hit two fours and the holed out to Russell off Chawla. Stuart Binny was the fifth wicket to go down. Riyan Parag strained a wee bit, but he gained momentum. He brought the target down to 31 in the last three overs. He got out hit-wicket after getting 47 from 31 balls with five boundaries and two sixes. Jofra Archer played a blinder of 27 from 12 to take the Royals’ over the finishing line.

Here is how Twitter reacted to the game

Get the latest Cricket News and updates from the Indian Premier League (IPL), Match Predictions, Fantasy Cricket Tips and lots more on CricTracker.com.