IPL 2021: Rajasthan Royals hit new low in crushing 86-run defeat against KKR

Rajasthan Royals hit new low in their Indian Premier League clash against Kolkata Knight Riders, which the Eoin Morgan-led unit won by 86 runs. Chasing a stiff 172 against KKR, the team got off to a dreadful start, losing opener Yashasvi Jaiswal in the first over. 

Royals skipper Sanju Samson then joined the opener in the following over as he was dismissed on 1(4). The team then lost two more wickets inside the powerplay overs as the scorecard read 17/4, Rajasthan’s second-lowest total in IPL history. 

# Lowest Powerplay totals for RR (IPL):

14/2 v RCB Cape Town 2009
17/4 v KKR Sharjah 2021 *
18/1 v MI Jaipur 2011

Meanwhile, Rajasthan also hit a few more lows during the course of their innings.

The most expensive buy of IPL 2021, all-rounder Chris Morris was the seventh batsman to be dismissed. His dismissal saw Rajasthan being reduced to 35/7 in 9 overs, which is the lowest score of a side at which the seventh wicket has fallen in IPL so far. RCB held onto this unwanted record for four years, when they were reduced to 42/7 against Kolkata Knight Riders in 2017.  

 STAT ALERT 

35/7 – This is the lowest score at which th wicket has fallen in the history of IPL.

Courtesy  Our Bowlers #KKRvRR #KKR #AmiKKR #IPL2021

— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) October 7, 2021

Meanwhile, this was also the sixth time when Rajasthan lost half their side before edging past the 50-run mark and out of those six three have come in their previous four clashes against the Knight Riders.  

The Rajasthan innings was wrapped up on 85 in the 17th over, which now stands as the team’s third lowest total in all the editions of IPL. 

# Lowest totals for RR (IPL):

58 v RCB 15.1 overs Cape Town 2009
81 v KKR 15.2 overs Kolkata 2011 
85/1 v KKR Sharjah 2021*

Skipper Samson said that chasing 171 was not a difficult task on this track but the team crumbled in order to provide a “powerful powerplay.”

“I think to be very honest it was a better wicket. It was staying a little low with the new ball but it was a better wicket. 171 was chaseable on this wicket. I think we wanted to get a good start. We needed a powerful powerplay. We wanted to execute whatever we planned but we didn’t execute,” he said during the post-match presentation ceremony.