Dinesh Karthik returned to scoring ways in superlative fashion, but it was the young duo of Riyan Parag and Jofra Archer who stole all the limelight with their match-winning cameos as Rajasthan Royals (RR) defeated Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by three wickets at Eden Gardens on Apr. 25.

Karthik hit seven fours and nine maximums en route to 50-ball 97 n.o, — his highest IPL score as he propelled Kolkata to 175 for 6 in their 20 overs. In response, Piyush Chawla (3 for 20) and Sunil Narine (2 for 25) reduced Rajasthan to 123 for 6 before Parag and Archer joined hands to add 43 runs in 21 deliveries for the seventh wicket to help RR pull off a stunning chase and keep themselves alive in the tournament. With this defeat, Kolkata have now lost six games in a row.

On a surface offering pace and bounce, Varun Aaron (2 for 20) knocked over Chris Lynn for a duck to ensure Kolkata got off to a worst possible start. Both Aaron and Oshane Thomas kept hitting the length and made life difficult for Kolkata batsmen. It took some time before Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana got used to the pace and crafted a couple of eye-pleasing shots square of the wicket. Just when they were starting to look at ease, Aaron castled Gill for 14 with an inswinging slower delivery. Rana stayed for a while before he hit one straight into the hands of Aaron off Gopal’s bowling when he was on 21.

In reply, Ajinkya Rahane and Sanju Samson got Rajasthan off to a rapid start. Needing 77 in seven overs, the burden fell on the young shoulders of Parag and Gopal.  Things however got interesting when Archer walked out to bat and along with Parag. With 9 runs required in the final over, Archer tonked 4 and 6 in the first two deliveries to give his team a sensational victory. Varun Aaron was chosen as the Man of the Match.