Rajasthan Royals produced a dominating performance to defeat Kolkata Knight Riders easily in the 18^th match of IPL 2021 played at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Saturday.

Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson won the toss and decided to field first. It was a disciplined effort by RR new ball bowlers not allowing Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana to score runs easily. Gill struggled a lot with his timing putting pressure on Rana. A superb direct hit by Jos Buttler ended the innings for Gill. At the end of the first six overs, KKR scored 25 for 1.

After the field restrictions, RR bowlers kept tight lines and lengths to Rana and Rahul Tripathi. Kolkata Knight Riders made 45 for 1 at the end of the first timeout. Chetan Sakaryia did the damage for RR getting rid of Nitish Rana providing an easy catch to Sanju Samson. Sunil Narine was promoted at number 4 but did not contribute many runs as Jaiswal took a superb running catch.

Rahul Tripathi looked in decent touch putting some pressure on RR bowlers. KKR went into more trouble as Eoin Morgan was run out in an unfortunate manner. RR bowlers made life tough for KKR batsmen. At the end of the second timeout, KKR looked in trouble at 84 for 4.

After the second timeout, KKR batsmen struggled to hit boundaries and kept on losing wickets at regular intervals. Tripathi’s innings ended providing an easy catch to Parag at deep midwicket. Tripathi and Karthik added 33 runs for the 5^th wicket. Andre Russell smacked a brilliant six before Chris Morris dismissed him as Miller took a good catch at long-on. Chetan Sakaryia leaped above his head taking a lovely catch at extra-cover to dismiss Dinesh Karthik. Despite being hit for a six by Cummins, Chris Morris got wickets of Cummins and Shivam Mavi. At the end of the 20 overs, KKR posted a modest total of 133 for 9 in 20 overs.

Chasing a modest total of 134 runs to win, Jaiswal looked in cracking touch putting pressure on KKR bowlers right from the word go while Jos Buttler faced some tight bowling. Varun Chakravarthy provided the breakthrough for KKR dismissing Buttler. RR captain Samson showed intent right from the word go. Mavi got rid of dangerous Jaiswal trying to hit a big shot providing an easy catch to substitute Nagarkoti. At the end of the first six overs, RR made 50 for 2.

Samson and Dube steadied the innings for RR hitting some lovely boundaries keeping the scoreboard ticking. At the end of the first timeout, RR scored 77 for 2.

Varun Chakravarthy provided another important breakthrough for KKR getting the wicket of Dube trying to heave as Krishna took an easy catch. Dube and Samson added 45 runs for the 3^rd wicket. KKR bowlers put some pressure on RR batsmen with tight bowling. Krishna struck for KKR getting rid of Tewaita with a sharp bouncer providing an easy catch to Nagarkoti. Miller was given out by the umpire but on review, it was overturned due to the ball pitching outside leg. Few balls later, KKR decided to review the decision but was retained. At the end of the second timeout, RR made 113 for 4.

After the timeout, David Miller and Sanju Samson kept RR ahead hitting boundaries and rotating the strike. Samson hit the winning runs with a single. Samson and Miller put on unbeaten 34 runs for the 5^th wicket.

Rajasthan Royals 134 for 4 in 18.5 overs (Sanju Samson 42, Miller 24, Chakravarthy 2/32) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 133 for 9 in 20 overs (Rahul Tripathi 36, Karthik 25, Morris 4/23) by six wickets.

For his 4 for 23 in 4 overs, Chris Morris was awarded the man of the match. CSK will take on RCB in tomorrow's first match while DC will face SRH at Chennai in 2nd match.