MUMBAI, India (CMC):
West Indian trio of Shimron Hetmyer, Andre Russell, and Sunil Narine were footnotes on a record-breaking night in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Thursday when Rajasthan Royals climbed to third in the points table with a nine-wicket win against hosts Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
Russell made 10 and ran out England Twenty20 International captain Jos Buttler for a three-ball duck, Narine made six and continued his struggles with the ball, conceding 13 in two wicket-less overs, and Hetmyer did not need to bat in the contest at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
After losing five of their six previous matches, the Royals logged a dominant win over Knight Riders featuring record-breaking performances from leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and opener Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Chahal collected four for 25 from four overs and became the most successful bowler in the history of the IPL, and Jaiswal was unbeaten on 98 in the successful Royals chase and topped his performance by scoring the fastest 50 in the tournament ever.
Chasing 150 to win, only the run-out of Buttler in the second over spoiled the start for the Royals after Jaiswal hammered 26 from the first over and exuded supreme confidence.
Jaiswal tore into KKR captain Nitish Rana, slamming 6, 6, 4, 4, 2, 4 in the second-most expensive first over in IPL history, and falling one run short of the record of 27, set by former West Indies opener Chris Gayle for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Abu Nechim of Mumbai Indians 12 years ago.
The breath-taking batting of Jaiswal, whose 47-ball innings included 12 fours and five sixes, enabled his side to cruise to 78 for one at the end of the Power Play, putting them firmly on course for victory.
His captain, Sanju Samson, not out on 48, jumped on the bandwagon and they rode the wave to the finish line with 41 balls remaining in an unbroken stand of 121.
Earlier, Venkatesh Iyer hit the top score of 57 from 42 balls, but Chahal superbly led the Royals bowling, and KKR were restricted to 149 for eight from their allocation of 20 overs.
KKR captain Nitish Rana made 22 and was the only other batsman to reach 20 before he was caught at deep backward square leg in 11th over to become the 184th wicket for Chahal, taking the leg-spinner past former West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo for the most IPL wickets.
New Zealand left-arm pacer Trent Boult supported Chahal with two for 15 from three overs.