Nitish Rana's all-round show helps Kolkata score over Rajasthan Royals

Nitish Rana (2 for 11 and 35 n.o., off 27) produced a stunning all-round show as Kolkata Knight Riders beat Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets in the ongoing edition of the IPL at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur on Wednesday. With this latest win, Kolkata have stormed on to the top of the IPL points table — tied with Sunrisers Hyderabad (3 wins out of 3) — with three wins in five matches. Chasing a fighting total of 161, KKR got off to the worst start possible as K. Gowtham castled Chris Lynn in the first over of the innings itself. Robin Uthappa joined Sunil Narine in the middle and the duo issued a stunning fightback to get the KKR chase up and running. The duo put on a 69-run stand for the second wicket, before Narine ran himself out for 35. But Uthappa kept going and started the rebuilding job with Rana, who took his time early on in the innings. Uthappa finally perished two runs before completing his well-deserved fifty courtesy of an outstanding effort on the long-on boundary from Ben Stokes. Dinesh Karthik joined Rana at the crease and the duo put on a flawless partnership to take the away side over the line with seven balls to spare. The duo put on an unbeaten 61-run stand for the forth wicket and Karthik finished the match in style by hitting a six to get his team over the line. With this win, KKR also ended Rajasthan's 9-match unbeaten run at home. Earlier, Rajasthan openers D'Arcy Short and Ajinkya Rahane helped Rajasthan put on a competitive score of 160/8 in their designated 20 overs. Nitish Rana was adjudged as the Man of the Match. Scores: RR: 160 for eight in 20 overs (Rahane 36, D.Arcy Short 44, Jos Butler 24, Nitish Rana two for 11, Tom Curran two for 19) lost to KKR 163 for three in 18.5 overs (Narine 35, Uthappa 48, Rana 35 n.o, Dinesh Karthik 42 n.o.).