KKR vs RR | Player Ratings - Riyan Parag 47 ensures Rajasthan Royals staying afloat in IPL 2019

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17-year-old Riyan Parag played a mature 47-run innings against Kolkata Knight Riders to ensure a three-wicket loss for the host franchise in the all-important encounter. After the win, Rajasthan Royals sent Royal Challengers Bangalore to the bottom place again after conceding the spot last night.

Ajinkya Rahane (7/10): The intent was there and Rahane absolutely was in a position to pull off an innings like his last one against Delhi Capitals. However, his over-enthusiastic footwork against Sunil Narine, when he himself wasn’t sure about the kind of delivery that Narine was going to deploy, resulted in being caught plumb in front for 34 off 21 deliveries. 

Sanju Samson (5/10): Piyush Chawla can cause devastation with his googly thanks to the way he disguises it behind his hand and that’s why it is always advisable not to take too much risk against him. Sanju Samson, trying to be cute out there, as he went for a steer and in the end, he got himself in a tangle while the googly went between his bat and pad to send him back to the hut with a personal tally of 22.

Steve Smith (2/10): The Royals skipper probably didn’t realise in the beginning, but batting so deep in the crease against a spinner in India is a recipe of disaster. Well, rocking back is a good strategy, but those who have a high backlift, like Smith, it would only cause dismissal and Sunil Narine exploited that in a big way to breach Smith’s defense when the latter was on two. Wasn’t expected from someone of Smith’s stature.

Ben Stokes (2.5/10): The English all-rounder, usually one to get caught up in the panto of batting collapses, needed to bat out of his skin for the final time in the tournament before leaving for England. But Stokes played an irresponsible innings and without understanding the importance of the situation, he ended Royals’ slim hopes of making it to the playoffs. 

Riyan Parag (8.5/10): The young kid is shining and how! After dominating the Mumbai Indians attack, alongside the company of Steve Smith, Parag played a 47-run innings, with a level of maturity that belied his cute 17-year-old face. While his mode of dismissal - hit-wicket - was not the ideal for him to end the innings, the way he turned the game single-handedly deserves all the accolades. 

Stuart Binny (2/10): The way Binny batted in the last few matches, I actually thought he would take it to another level and guide the team over the line. Well, it was blasphemy as Binny was sedate from the very beginning and was afraid of hitting hard. That was all about it.

Shreyas Gopal (2.5/10): The Karnataka all-rounder was in absolute shambles tonight and notwithstanding his googlies making perfect appearances, that was routinely smashed out of the park. While Gopal managed to dismiss Nitish Rana, he was expected to deliver with the bat, but after getting a good start, the all-rounder failed in that count to shut the door on his team’s face.

Jofra Archer (6.5/10): The English all-rounder was playing his last game of the season, and he must’ve wanted to be an impressive performer. However, if the imperfect end adds some beauty to the perfect campaign, then Jofra Archer would of course not mind the 7 economy rate without even taking a wicket. Once again, he had conceded just 12 runs in the first three overs, but DK had gone mad by the time he came out to bowl his last over. 

Jaydev Unadkat (1/10): A good performance by Jaydev Unadkat is as scarce as a watering hole in the Serengeti. And that continued to dampen Rajasthan Royals’ plans as the pacer conceded as many as 50 runs in four overs to ensure that there was no respite for him. The lengths still continue to be up and as long as he finds a middle ground, nothing was going to change for him.

Oshane Thomas (6/10): With Varun Aaron being all fire and brimstone at the other end, Oshane Thomas, on his IPL debut, just followed the template and tried to take the ball in on a regular basis. With the fitness not being top notch, he was haunted by the Kolkata’s sapping humidity, which reduced his strength after each ball. Keeping everything aside, Thomas should’ve been credited for keeping Andre Russell in check, and eventually dismissing him. 

Varun Aaron (9/10): Probably one of the best piece of new-ball swing we’ve seen in this season of the IPL so far. Aaron got the ball to move with the searing pace of 147 kmph regularly and coupled that up with slower balls that troubled KKR top-order. The Jharkhand pacer, once considered as India’s fastest bowler, was back at his best, and even though, there was no guarantee that he will continue doing same in the next game, this was very refreshing to see at least. By taking a catch and effecting a run-out, Aaron ended his spell with 2/20. A dream spell indeed.

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