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Ahmedabad: Fifties from Gambhir and Uthappa had helped Kolkata to 121/0 before they lost 6 wickets in 9 balls in 2 runs including a hat-trick by Tambe. Eventually, RR pipped KKR by 10 runs in a tight finish at Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad on Monday.
Chasing 171 runs, KKR were firmly on course with Gautam Gambhir (54) and Robin Uthappa (65) delivering a century stand adding 121 runs in 14 overs.
Enter Shane Watson and their batting imploded. His first delivery of the 15th over induced an edge from the bat of Gambhir, off his third, Uthappa was holed out at deep square leg and his fifth uprooted Andre Russell's middle stump.
However, the equation was still a manageable at 49 runs of 30 balls. And the decisive blows were given by 42-year-old legspinner Pravin Tambe (3/26), who in the space of two deliveries took a hat-trick and by the time his over finally ended, KKR slumped to 126/6.
Manish Pandey skipped down the track too early and Tambe sent the ball down the leg. Sanju Samson collected the ball and removed the bails. Off the next ball, Yusuf Pathan (0) offered a leading edge that was well taken by Tambe and Ryan ten Doeschate (0) was trapped in front after being hit by a quicker delivery flush on the toe. In the space of eight deliveries, KKR had lost six wickets for two just runs.
The match was now out of KKR's reach and even a brief intervention by Shakib Al Hasan in the 18th over as he swatted James Faulkner for a six and a four couldn't save them.
The opening stand has been one of the major reasons for KKR's struggle this season and at Motera, they corrected that anomaly as Gambhir and Robin Uthappa gave them an excellent start. During their stay, both dominated the bowlers collecting boundaries regularly.
Gambhir was surprised at the amount of grass cover on the Motera track during the toss and after winning it, opted to bowl first. His counterpart Watson indicated he would have batted anyway and his opening pair, without taking any risk, proved his decision right getting RR off to a quick start.
The first ball of the match from Vinay Kumar was on Ajinkya Rahane's leg and he set the tone helping it to midwicket fence for a four. The KKR bowlers were bowling to Rahane with a plan as barring one boundary on the off side, all his runs were scored on the leg side. A nonchalant flick off Umesh Yadav in the fourth over for a six was enough to prove how beautifully he was timing the ball. Together with Karun Nair, he added 53 runs for the first wicket.
A direct hit from Sunil Narine cut short his brisk knock of 30 (22b, 4x3, 6x1) that caught him well short of the crease at the striker's end. The next pair of Sanju Samson and Nair avoided taking risks but the run flow continued in singles although the run-rate saw a dip.
Shakib and Doeschate put in the squeeze and a period of 20 deliveries followed that saw RR being denied freebies. Nair ended the dull phase with a six off Yadav sending a low full toss over square leg fence. The pair guided RR past 100 runs before Shakib denied Nair a second successive fifty by having him stumped for 44.
In walked Shane Watson at no. 4 as RR looked set for a late flourish. It took the burly Australian four deliveries before he unleashed two sixes and a boundary off his blade in the innings' 16th over, bowled by Kumar. That over produced 19 runs and Watson had raced to 19 from 9 deliveries. However, KKR bowled relatively well in the final four overs even as a big target loomed large over their heads.
Narine led the fightback with the big wickets of Samson (37) and Watson (31) in his final two overs. Vinay Kumar also made up for his profligacy with two wickets in two overs before Rajat Bhatia ended the innings with a six over midwicket boundary.
Earlier, Kolkata Knight Riders have won the toss and invites Rajasthan Royals to bat.
Two changes for RR - Southee in for Richardson and Teotia comes in for Kulkarni. KKR also have made two big changes - Jacques Kallis is out. RN ten Doeschate comes in. Umesh Yadav replaces Piyush Chawla.
Teams
Kolkata: Gautam Gambhir (Capt.), Manish Pandey, Robin Uthappa (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Shakib Al Hasan, Ryan ten Doeschate, Yusuf Pathan, Andre Russell, Vinay Kumar, Sunil Narine, Umesh Yadav
Rajasthan: Karun Nair, Ajinkya Rahane, Sanju Samson (wk), Shane Watson (Capt.), Stuart Binny, Steven Smith, Rajat Bhatia, James Faulkner, Tim Southee, Rahul Tewatia, Pravin Tambe
