By IANS,
Jaipur : Rajasthan Royals continued their winning streak, defeating Kolkata Knight Riders by 45 runs in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium here Thursday.
Chasing 197, the Knight Riders were bowled out for 151 in 19.1 overs and slumped to their third consecutive defeat in the tournament.
After losing their first match against Delhi Daredevils, Rajasthan Royals have managed four wins in a row.
Knight Riders started their run chase shakily. Pakistani Salman Butt, who made his IPL debut, was the first wicket to fall as he inside-edged a delivery from Sohail Tanvir onto his stumps in the second over of the match.
Ajit Agarkar, promoted to number three in the batting order, made a quick-fire 20 off 13 balls before he was caught behind while trying to cut a straight delivery from Shane Watson.
Australian David Hussey (42 off 30) shared a crucial 68-run stand with skipper Sourav Ganguly (52 off 39) to bring the Knight Riders’ run-chase back on track.
Rajasthan Royals’ captain Shane Warne (1/20) got rid of Ganguly in the 14th over, and then Siddharth Trivedi (31/2) went through Hussey’s defence. It was all over for the Knight Riders as no other batsman could make any valuable contribution.
The Knight Riders were ultimately bowled out with five balls to spare.
Earlier in the day, debutant Swapnil Asnodkar (60 off 34) and Yusuf Pathan (55 off 33) powered Rajasthan Royals to 196 for the loss of seven wickets. The duo put on 53 runs for the third wicket.
Asondkar’s dream outing came to an end when he was picked up by Pakistani pacer Umar Gul in the 12th over.
Pathan was at his dangerous best, standing back and slogging most of the deliveries. In his fiery innings, he hit six boundaries and two sixes.
Youngster Ravindra Jadeja scripted the perfect finish for the Royals with a cameo of 33 off 19 balls.
For Knight Riders, Gul was the best bowler, picking up three wickets for 31 runs, while Ishant Sharma, Agarkar and Laxmi Ratan Shulka got one each.