KKR vs RR: Yashasvi Jaiswal Equals Virat Kohli’s Exclusive IPL Record With His 98-Run Knock vs KKR

KKR vs RR: Records are meant to be broken. One of such massive records was shattered last night at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. And it was 21-year-old Yashasvi Jaiswal who did it with his bat. Rajasthan Royals locked horns with the two-time champion Kolkata Knight Riders at their den in the 56th game of the season. Rajasthan dominated completely throughout the game, and ended with a comprehensive win by nine wickets with 41 balls to spare.

It didn’t start well for Kolkata. They lost wickets up front in the batting. Jason Roy (10) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (18) couldn’t contribute much. Venkatesh Iyer and skipper Nitish Rana (22) added 48 runs for the third wicket. But as the wicket fell, KKR lost their way. Iyer was the only survivor, who made a 42-ball 57. Kolkata reached only 149/8 in their 20 overs.

KKR vs RR: Yashasvi Jaiswal equals Virat Kohli’s special record in the IPL

It was a record-breaking night for RR. In the first inning, Yuzvendra Chahal picked up four wickets for 25 runs and went past Dwayne Bravo to become the highest wicket-taker in the IPL’s history. Chahal has now taken 187 wickets in 143 games, with six four-wicket hauls and one fifer. Chasing the target, Jaiswal smashed 26 runs in the first over off KKR skipper Nitish Rana. It was the most expensive opening over of an IPL game in history.

Notably, Jaiswal started the over with two sixes off the first two balls. With this, he equaled Virat Kohli‘s feat and became only the second player to hit two sixes on the first two balls of the inning. The former RCB skipper did it against Rajasthan Royals in 2019. Jaiswal carried the momentum throughout the inning and smashed a 13-ball half-century. He broke the records of KL Rahul and Pat Cummins.

Both scored the previous fastest IPL fifty of 14 balls. Jos Buttler was unlucky. He was run out with a three-ball duck. But Jaiswal and Sanju Samson made sure that RR was not losing any other wickets. The left-hander remained unbeaten on 98 from 47 balls, while Samson made 48 not out. Both added an unbeaten second-wicket partnership of 121 runs to win the game for their team. RR will now face RCB in their next game on Sunday in Jaipur.