It was a sweet homecoming for Kolkata Knight Riders as they beat Rajasthan Royals at the hallowed Eden Gardens by five wickets. Even the magic of Rahul Dravid, who has played some of the best knocks that world cricket has witnessed on this ground, could not inspire Rajasthan to win on the slow and turning Eden track. It was a day when runs were hard to come by and the batsmen from either team had to really toil hard out in the middle.

Dravid, who is well acquainted with the Eden track decided to bat first. His team was able to get off to a start they would have desired, but some tight bowling by Kolkata could see them manage only 131 in their stipulated 20 overs. It looked like an easy task for Kolkata but it did not turn out to be so as the hosts could chase down the target only in the last over of the match.

Both KKR and RR now have two wins from four games and are fourth and fifth on the points table respectively.

Here are some hits and flop of the game:

Hits and Flops of KKR:

Shakib Al Hasan: It was his day at the Eden yesterday. After warming the bench for first two matches, he now has taken five wickets in two games he has played so far and is currently the highest wicket taker for KKR in this season. On a day when the pitch was offering assistance to spinners, Shakib took full advantage of it and scalped three wickets by giving away just 17 runs in four overs.  And that was not all. He also played a role in his team’s batting and his cameo of 16 runs of 10 deliveries including a four and a six helped his team pick up the win with four balls remaining. He was named the man-of-the-match for his all round effort.

Batting: Barring Gautam Gambhir who scored just 11, all there batsmen put up a collective effort and chipped in with useful knocks to help their team register their second victory in the IPL 5.

Flops:
Nothing much to write about.


Hit and flops of Rajasthan Royals:

Rahul Dravid: He is still the man and he still holds the card to a team’s success. Dravid playing at a ground, which remains very close to his heart, scored 28 of 27 deliveries including five boundaries.  He was showing attacking instinct and stepped down the ground on couple of occasions against the medium pacers. He was out when the scoreboard was 49 and it was after his wicket that RR could never find their way back and were able to manage only 131.

Flops:

Batting: The batting on the whole flopped for Rajasthan Royals. They could not execute properly and were found wanting on most of the occasions. From 45 for no loss, all of a sudden they crashed to 49 for three. They could not take up the attack to the oppositions and in the end could not pile up enough runs on the board.

By Samikshan Dutta Choudhary