Sharjah, Oct 7 (UNI) A half century from Shubman Gill helped Kolkata Knight Riders post a challenging 172-run target for Rajasthan Royals on a two-paced surface here in IPL 2021 on Thursday.
Gill scored a 44-ball 56 while Venkatesh Iyer (38 off 35) and Nitish Rana (21 off 14) made telling contribution as well to put 171/4 in 20 overs. Apart from Chetan Sakariya (1/23), Royals bowlers had a field day with Jaydev costing the most with 35 runs in his quota of four overs.
Asked to bat first, KKR openers Gill and Venkatesh Iyer took it steady with 34 runs in the powerplay as pacers Chris Morris and Sakariya kept their line and length tight.
The half-century of the stand came up at the end of the eighth over with Iyer and Gill stepping things up with three sixes in the next seven deliveries. The partnership was soon broken at 79 in the 11th over by Rahul Tewatia, who dismissed Iyer at 38 (35).
Newly-in Nitish Rana took an aggressive approach with a quick boundary and a six on arrival but went back to dugout like he came as Glenn Phillips holed him out at 12 (5).
Runs, however, continued to flow with Rahul Tripathi smashing three boundaries in the next two overs to take KKR past the 100-run mark.
Gill then reached his fifty in the 15th over with a slice of luck as an inside edge of his bat was thick enough for the ball to miss the wickets and go past the fine leg boundary for a four.
The opener departed soon after as he miscued Morris's slow ball straight to Yashasvi Jaiswal at the cover for 56. Tripathi (21 off 14) followed Gill after getting castled by Sakariya, who just gave away three runs in the 18th over.
With 148/4 at the stage, Dinesh Karthik (14* off 11) and Eoin Morgan (13* off 11) clobbered 33 runs in the last two overs to take KKR to 171.
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