Rajasthan lose to McCullum-led KKR

KKR made four changes to their playing eleven – Wriddhiman Saha, Anureet Singh, Murali Kartik and Ajantha Mendis made way for Yashpal Singh, Shoaib Shaikh, Charl Langeveldt and Sourav Sarkar.

RR made three changes to their playing (Pat)eleven – Graeme Smith, Abhishek Raut and Siddharth Trivedi made way for Swapnil Asnodkar, Niraj and Tyron Henderson.

(Brend)On winning the toss, McCullum, KKR’s skipper, chose to field.

The first Powerplay of RR’s innings – which was the mandatory Powerplay – was between the first and the sixth over. They scored 46, and lost four wickets.

Rob Quiney, who faced a ball, scored a run. Seven balls into the match, he was caught by Shaikh. Langeveldt broke the 22-run stand.

The second-wicket pair put on six. Asnodkar, who faced half-a-dozen balls, scored four. His runs came by way of a boundary. Ten balls later, Ashok Dinda ran him out.

Naman Ojha, whose 12-ball innings included three sixes, scored 22. Four dot balls later, he was caught by Shaikh off the bowling of Langeveldt.

Johan, who faced (Bot)half-a-dozen balls, scored eight. His runs came by way of boundaries. A dozen balls later, Ajit Agarkar broke the 14-run stand.

RR scored 50 off 7.4 overs (46 balls). KKR had conceded a couple of extras at that point.

Niraj, whose 22-ball innings included a boundary, scored 14. Twenty-three balls later, he was caught by Sourav Ganguly. Langeveldt broke the 17-run stand.

Ten overs into the match, the drinks break was taken. RR had scored 61 for the loss of five wickets at that point. While Yusuf Pathan had scored nine, Ravindra Jadeja hadn’t opened his account.

The sixth-wicket pair put on three. Pathan, whose 15-ball innings included a boundary, didn’t add to the aforementioned score. Nine ballS(huk)later, Laxmi Ratan, the player of the match, ran him out.

The seventh-wicket pair didn’t get off the mark. Henderson, who faced a ball, D(av)idn’t open his account. Three balls later, Hussey ran him out.

Jadeja, whose 19-ball innings included a boundary, eventually scored 14. Thirty-six balls later, Sarkar broke the 30-run stand.

Shane Warne, RR’s skipper, scored 18. His 29-ball innings included a boundary. Thirteen balls later, Agarkar had a reason to be in seventh heaven.

RR scored 100 off 19.5 overs (119 balls). KKR had conceded five extras at that point. That was, incidentally, the number of extras they eventually conceded.

Munaf Patel, who faced half-a-dozen balls, scored five. He was unbeaten, as was Amit Singh, who faced a couple of balls, scoring a run.

RR scored 101 for the loss of nine wickets off 20 overs.

Brad Hodge, who bowled an over, conceded 22. He was wicketless, as were Shukla and Dinda, who bowled four overs apiece. While the former conceded 20, the latter conceded a dozen.

Sarkar, who bowled three overs, conceded 15. He picked up a wicket.

Agarkar, who bowled four overs, conceded 15. He picked up a couple of wickets.

Langeveldt, who bowled four overs, conceded 15. He picked up three scalps.

The first Powerplay of KKR’s innings – which was the mandatory Powerplay – was between the first and the sixth over. They scored 29, and lost three wickets.

Ganguly, who faced three balls, didn’t get off the mark. An over into the chase, he was caught by Jadeja. Munaf broke the nine-run stand.

The second-wicket pair didn’t get off the mark. McCullum, whose four-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored nine. The next ball, he was trapped leg before wicket by Amit.

Yashpal, who faced 20 balls, scored half-a-dozen. Twenty-three balls later, he was caught by Quiney. Munaf broke the 12-run stand.

Hodge, whose eight-ball innings included a boundary, scored (Oj)half-a-dozen. Thirteen balls later, he was stumped. Botha broke the nine-run stand.

Hussey, whose 13-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored nine. A dozen balls later, he was caught by Niraj. Needless to say, Botha was in seventh heaven.

Ten overs into the chase, the drinks break was taken. KKR had scored 38 for the loss of five wickets at that point. While Shukla was in seventh heaven, Shaikh hadn’t opened his account.

The sixth-wicket pair put on eight. Although his innings included a boundary, Shaikh had no reason to be in seventh heaven – he eventually scored (Bot)half-a-dozen. Fourteen balls after Hussey’s dismissal, Pathan and the South African ran him out.

KKR scored 50 off 12.2 overs (75 balls). RR had conceded an extra at that point.

The seventh-wicket pair put on 50 off 41 balls. While Shukla’s contribution to the partnership was 39, Agarkar’s contribution to it was nine. Extras’ contribution to the partnership was a couple.

KKR scored 100 off 19.2 overs (117 balls). RR had conceded five extras at that point. That was, incidentally, the number of extras they eventually conceded.

Shukla, whose 46-ball innings included three boundaries and a couple of sixes, eventually scored 48. He was unbeaten, as was Agarkar, who eventually scored 13 off 17 balls.

KKR, who scored 102 for the loss of half-a-dozen wickets off 19.3 overs, won by four wickets with three balls to spare.

Jadeja and Henderson bowled a couple of wicketless overs apiece. While the former conceded 13, the latter conceded 10.

Warne, who bowled four wicketless overs, conceded 24.

Amit, who bowled 3.3 overs, conceded 19. He picked up a wicket.

Botha and Munaf bowled four overs each, picking up a couple of scalps apiece. While the former conceded 19, the latter conceded 14.

As a result of this match, CSK qualified for the play-offs, and RR were eliminated.