Kolkata: Kolkata Knight Riders' skipper Gautam Gambhir was first to depart while chasing the target of 132 runs. He was run out in the fourth over at 11 runs off 11 balls.
After deciding to bat first, Rajasthan Royals' opening batsmen gave a steady start. Dravid and Rahane put up a 45 runs opening partnership. Royals suffered first setback in the form of A Rahane, who was caught behind at 19 off 16 balls in the seventh over. He was soon followed by Menaria in the next over. He was run out after scoring single run. Dravid became the second victim of Shakib Al Hasan in the ninth over at 28 runs off 27 deliveries.
Shah and S Goswami added 59 runs for the fourth wicket before Goswami fall prey to Shakib Al Hasan at 24 off 22 deliveries. Next to go was O Shah; he was stumped at the score of 31 of 33 balls.
Botha and Hodge added some quick runs in the last couple of overs to take Rajasthan Royals to 131.
Owais Shah was the top scorer for Rajasthan side with 31 runs off 33 balls. Shakib Al Hasan took three wickets for Kolkata Knight Riders.
Preview: It is back to the Mecca of cricket, Eden Gardens, as Rajasthan Royals take on the Kolkata Knight Riders in the 15th match of the tournament. As the tournament gains momentum teams have managed to put a decent show so far. In Today's match both the teams have displayed contrasting performances so far.
Dravid's men won two of the inaugural matches on the trot before going down to Mumbai Indians on Wednesday night. The Knight Riders team have a different story to tell, they have lost the starting two matches, only to plough the Royal Challengers on their home ground.
The relatively inexperienced Royals team would be looking to get back to the winning ways as quickly as possible. However, they might seek some solace from the fact they ran Mumbai very close in a high scoring match in Wankhade. The batting of the Royal team is in a decent form and they would be looking forward to cash in on this advantage. In fact, Rahane (138 runs from 3 matches) and Shah ( 113 runs) are also the top two run-getters in IPL-5 so far.
The worrying factor would be the Royals bowling that were put to test by Kieron Pollard and Ambati Rayudu. Kolkata explosive batting line-up - Yusuf Pathan, Manoj Tiwary, Gautam Gambhir, Jacques Kallis might find the inexperience in the Royals bowling to their liking on Kolkata's home-made pitch. The all-rounder, Kevon Cooper, who has come in handy with both bat and ball would be crucial. The slow Eden Garden track might just do the trick for the Royal bowler Bradd Hogg, who has an arsenal of heady mix of Chinaman and left-arm orthodox stuff.
The Knights on the contrary have so far shown a decent performance with the ball. Their lead bowler Lakshmipathy Balaji might just do the trick for the Riders as they look to tackle the royal batsmen. The Inclusion of Bangladesh's left-arm spinner has added variety to Kolkata's bowling that is spearheaded by the Australina Paceman Brett Lee.
On the batting front, the team could pose some serious challenge for the Royals bowlers. Gautam Gmabhir (64 of 39 ballls) would be looking to build on the momentum his team has acquired against Bangalore. Bisla-with a Splendid knock of 46 (29 balls)-would be another obstacle for the Royal bowlers.
Rahul Dravid who has managed some decent starts, would like to build upon them and post a match winning total on the score-board.
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