Kolkata Knight Riders brought Rajasthan Royals, who had won both their games in Sharjah, crashing down to earth at the Dubai International Stadium on Wednesday. Responding to Knight Riders’ 174 for six, Royals finished with 137 for nine.
After Steve Smith fell early to Pat Cummins, Sanju Samson was snared by Shivam Mavi. The Kerala batsman failed to time his pull and ended up spooning the ball to Sunil Narine at midwicket.
In his next over, Mavi sent back Jos Buttler who went for a slash off a wider ball and was taken at short third-man by Varun Chakravarthy.
Kamlesh Nagarkoti took over from Mavi, dismissing Robin Uthappa and Riyan Parag cheaply to reduce Royals to 42 for five.
Mystery spinner Varun then castled Rahul Tewatia. It was left to Tom Curran (54 not out, 36b, 2x4, 3x6) to bring some respectability to the total.
