After the bowling unit had done the hard work of restricting Kolkata Knight Riders to 149, Rajasthan Royals romped home at Eden Gardens, with a whopping 41 balls remaining and nine wickets in hand. Yashasvi Jaiswal couldn’t quite get his hundred, but he played an innings that few that watched it will ever forget. Following on from Yuzvendra Chahal’s record-breaking spell, it was a night to remember for Rajasthan. Here are our takeaways from the game.
Jaiswal the sensation
Have him in the Indian team immediately. You cannot keep this young man out of the reckoning much longer. Yashasvi Jaiswal is a sensation. His first-class average is 80-plus, and it’s above 50 in 50-over games. Then he does this in the IPL! This is crazy. Yes, people will talk about those towering sixes mostly on the leg side. What about those sublime punches from the back foot either side of point? Those were true evidence of class. Jaiswal was incredible. The fastest 50 in IPL history. The most devastating knock seen at Eden Gardens in many a year, and such a tremendous effort in a crunch match. Others contributed as well alright. No doubt who made the telling difference. Jaiswal is turning out to be the game-changer of the IPL, not just for Rajasthan Royals.
Catches win matches
Talk about their catching and ground fielding. The Royals lost their previous match because they dropped catches. On Thursday at Eden Gardens against Kolkata Knight Riders, they plucked everything and stopped everything. Shimron Hetmyer was the trend setter, Sandeep Sharma was not far behind. This was fielding of the most sublime kind. All that went up came down and settled in the hands of the fielders, often to spectacular efforts. The ground fielding was excellent as well. These efforts meant that their team was chasing 150 instead of 180. Truly stupendous, especially right after a match where work in the field let them down. Super comeback, Royals.
One of the most exciting talents in Indian cricket at the moment, Yashasvi Jaiswal has been phenomenal in the #IPL2023 so far.
From selling panipuri to his maiden IPL century it has been a great journey. Can @ybj_19 don the Blue jersey in the near future?@ThumsUpOfficial pic.twitter.com/ABXi1ET036
— RevSportz (@RevSportz) May 5, 2023
Yuzi the game turner
Yuzvendra Chahal was actually the game-changer for the Royals. Those overs of leg-spin towards the end of the Kolkata innings turned the match towards his team. On a day he became the highest wicket-taker in IPL history, Chahal was at his imaginative best. He is a clever customer. Tossing the ball wide outside the off stump and inviting the batters to get into trouble, this was a creative effort. Figures of 4-25 in four overs were monumental. He was instrumental in choking Kolkata in the closing overs. They were on course for 170-180, at 76-2 after 10 overs. That’s when Chahal turned up with his bag of tricks. It was highly commendable. Intuition of the line to bowl was the most amazing part. He out-thought batters and reaped the rewards.
Why Nitish, why?
Eden Gardens is a venue which is known to assist spinners. So KKR would have known that a chase of 150 wasn’t necessarily a straightforward task for Rajasthan. They had Varun Chakravarthy, Suyash Sharma and Sunil Narine. Nitish Rana, the captain, coming to bowl the first over ahead of that trio turned out to be a super-flop idea. No problem with a skipper leading from the front, but there is a difference between being judicious and over-ambitious. Rana is a part-time bowler at best, not a frontline spinner. He can chip in with a few overs, but is no lead bowler. That over went for 26. That’s where the chase was set.
RR back in the fray, KKR almost out
Rajasthan Royals are not there yet, but they have come back at the right time. After five defeats in the last six matches and chances of making it to the playoffs just about slipping away, they did what was needed. It was not easy. Eden Gardens usually offers a slow pitch where stroke-making is not easy. They read the surface well, conceded very little in the last few overs when KKR were batting, and then hammered those runs in the blink of an eye thanks to Jaiswal and Sanju Samson, the captain. KKR are probably out of it, barring a few miracles. The Royals hang in there, with more to do.