Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) registered their third consecutive victory in the cash rich Indian Premiere League (IPL) as they defeated Rajasthan Royals (RR) by eight wickets at Eden Gardens here on Sunday.
Chasing Rajasthan Royals first innings total of 81 runs, KKR reached the winning score of 85 runs for the loss of two wickets in just 13.5 overs.
Rajasthan bowlers did not let the KKR batsmen reach the winning target very easily as the Australian bowling trio of Shane Warne, S. Tain and Ahane Watson maintained a superb line and length.
All of them made life quite difficult for the KKR batsmen at the initial stages as they lost their first wicket in the form of J. Kallis (0) in the very second delivery of the innings.
S.Tait picked up the wicket of dangerous Kallis on the very second delivery of the KKR innings, giving the KKR fans some challenging moment in the match.
He was soon followed by the wicket of Bisla (9) as his wicket was picked up by skipper Shane Warne.
KKR captain Gautam Gambhir (35*) and star Bengal batsman Manoj Tiwary (30*) guided their side to victory.
Shane Warne bowled tight four overs in the game as he gave away 17 runs and picked up one wicket.
Tait gave nine runs in the first three overs but in the last over he gave away 20 runs.
Earlier, L Balaji and Shakib al Hasan bowled exceptionally well to restrict Rajasthan Royals for 81 runs in their fourth outing at the Indian Premiere League (IPL) at Eden Gardens here on Sunday.
Rajasthan Royals were bowled out at 81 runs in just 15.2 overs.
This is the lowest total by any team in the fourth edition of the IPL so far.
The visitors started poorly as they lost their first two wickets within the fifth over with 28 runs on the board, after KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir won the toss and put them to bat.
Medium pacer Balaji came out as chief wrecker, claiming three wickets for 15 runs during the three overs he bowled,
Bangladeshi left arm spinner, Shakib al Hasan bagged two RR scalps giving 21 runs off four overs. Y Pathan, B Lee and I Abdullah picked up a wicket each.
Though the pitch had normal bounce and the KKR bowling was not too hostile, Rajasthan Royals batsmen failed to apply themselves and succumbed meekly. Only Menaria tried to put up some fight with his 21 runs including one four and one sixer off 17 deliveries before he was caught by Bhatia off Balaji.
Two of the top order Rajasthan Royals batsmen, F Fazal and A Raut fell victims of run outs, scoring 3 and 11 respectively.
SRK ran all around the nearly packed-house Eden Garden on Sunday after his side added more points in their bag after Sinday?s victory.