Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Rajasthan Royals by 86 runs at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Thursday. Kolkata Knight Riders are in fourth position on the points table with 14 points.

KKR’s pragmatic approach vanquishes Rajasthan Royals at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Thursday, which keeps them reserved to the fourth position. The Knight Riders got hold of the highest run rate(+0.59) amongst the IPL teams. The Knights, completing their innings with a commendable total of 171/4 on a difficult surface, restricted the Royals out for 85, the lowest total so far in this IPL.

The Royals’ campaign thus ended on a bitter note with their wickets going down one after the other. In their previous game versus Mumbai, their day ended at 90. Although sluggish Sharjah wicket has been quite difficult this season, yet Shubman Gill (56)  scored his second consecutive half-century partnered with Venkatesh Iyer (38) making 79 within 11 overs, to keep us hinged to the match. After Dinesh Karthik and captain Eoin Morgan stretched KKR’s total past 170, it was all up to the bowlers. Shakib-al Hasan cleaned up  opener Yashasvi Jaiswal at the first over. And thereafter, Shivam Mavi (4/21) and Lockie Ferguson (3/18) whitewashed the Royals. 

Mumbai Indians have to beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by a really massive margin on Friday to qualify for the last-four stage. In other words, a humongous task awaits Rohit Sharma and Co. as they need to win by around 171 runs or so in order to make the cut. And the task could be almost impossible for them if they bowl first.