Kolkata, Apr 19 (PTI) Wily Varun Chakravarthy returned to his best, showing perfect chemisty with veteran Sunil Narine as Kolkata Knight Riders’ spin twins dismantled Rajasthan Royals snaring five wickets between them to restrict visitors to a below-par 155/9, in their IPL match here on Sunday.
It could have been worse for RR had KKR not conceded ground in the power play.
Skipper Ajinkya Rahane appeared overly defensive with his approach, delaying the introduction of spin as the Rajasthan openers — Yashasvi Jaiswal and young Vaibhav Sooryavanshi — raced to 63 without loss, clocking at over 10 an over against the innocuous KKR pace attack.
But when they were inserted, the much-anticipated match-up between Sooryavanshi and the experienced spin duo lived up to the expecatations.
The 15-year-old struck Narine for a second ball six, but the veteran responded with five dot balls in his first over.
Chakravarthy then dismissed him with his fourth delivery, reaching his landmark 200th T20 wicket.
Sooryavanshi’s slog sweep lacked power and was taken by a well-judged Ramandeep Singh at deep midwicket.
That dismissal triggered a collapse as RR, cruising at nearly 10 runs per over at the halfway stage, slipped to 118/4 in 15 overs, with the run rate dropping below eight.
They lost Sooryavanshi (46 off 28), Dhruv Jurel (5), Jaiswal (39 off 29) and skipper Riyan Parag (12) in quick succession against the run of play. Parag, the controversial choice as RR skipper, has been the worst performer for Royals so far.
The middle phase belonged entirely to KKR’s spin duo, who bowled in tandem and choked the scoring.
Introduced in the ninth over, Chakravarthy conceded just five runs and picked up two wickets in his first two overs, completing his spell in one stretch to finish with impressive figures of 3/14.
Narine, brought on in the fifth over, removed Jaiswal and the dangerous Donovan Ferreira (7) in his final two overs, leaving RR reeling at 124/5 in the 16th over. He ended with 2/26.
Kartik Tyagi, who has finally got a long run in his fifth IPL season, claimed 3/22 with wickets in the death overs, including key scalps of Ravindra Jadeja (9) and Shimron Hetmyer (15) in the penultimate over, as RR’s middle-order frailties resurfaced.
Electing to bat, RR won the power play racing to 63/0 as KKR’s delayed use of spin allowed the openers to settle.
KKR struggled for an early breakthrough as Jaiswal and Sooryavanshi capitalised on the pace on offer, playing their shots freely against the seamers.
A more proactive approach would have seen Narine and Chakravarthy introduced earlier, but Rahane held them back.
Narine came on only in the fifth over when Sooryavanshi was well set, while Chakravarthy — fresh from a two-wicket haul against Gujarat Titans — was introduced as late as the ninth over.
Once into the attack, however, both spinners made an immediate impact. PTI TAP KHS
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