Match 12 at Dubai cricket stadium on September 30 saw Kolkata Knight Riders beat Rajasthan Royals by 37 runs. This was KKR’s second win in the season while Royals tasted their first loss.

RR captain Steve Smith won the toss and sent Dinesh Karthik’s KKR to bat. Vice-captain Eoin Morgan took KKR to 174/6 in 20 overs. He remained unbeaten on 34. Opener Shubman Gill made 47 off 34 balls and Andre Russel 24.

English pacer Jofra Archer was the most successful RR bowler, taking two wickets while conceding only 18 runs.

Steve Smith was dismissed by KKR Pat Cummins early on in 175-run chase. Tom Curran’s half century was not enough to see the Royals through. RR were restricted to 137/9 in 20 overs.

Youngster Shivam Mavi who dismissed the in-form Sanju Samson and the dangerous Jos Buttler won the Player of the match for his tight spell (2/20).

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Rajasthan Royals registered a comfortable 16-run win over mighty Chennai Super Kings in the Day 4 match in Sharjah on September 22, giving it a fantastic start in IPL 2020.

Batting first, RR was propelled forward by the half centuries of Sanju Samson (74 off 32 balls) and Steve Smith (69 off 47 balls) helping it score 216 for 7 in 20 overs. Samson’s blitzkrieg comprised 9 sixes and a four. For CSK, Sam Curran took 3 wickets yielding 33 runs.

Though Chennai Super Kings began well, it lost openers Shane Watson and Murali Vijay in quick succession to RR spinners – Rahul Tetwatia and Shreyas Gopal – after getting off to a good start. Tetwatia picked up three wickets for RR, and clinched the match for it.

Faf du Plessis hit a 72 off 37 balls but it could not save CSK. Nor could Dhoni hat-trick of sixes in the final over.

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