IPL 2023: Yashasvi Jaiswal's 98 not out powers Rajasthan Royals to nine-wicket victory over KKR

Kolkata, May 11 (IANS) Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal continued his red-hot form in IPL 2023 with an unbeaten 47-ball 98, including slamming the quickest fifty of the tournament's history in 13 balls, in powering Rajasthan Royals to an emphatic nine-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders in an season 2023 match at the Eden Gardens, here on Thursday.

Jaiswal was sparkling in his strokeplay, combining bravado and fearless approach to hit 13 fours and five sixes at a strike-rate of 208.51. The left-handed opener reaching fifty in 13 balls was like a video game in fast-forward mode, leaving the fans in awe of the ability to clear the infield and pick gaps with immaculate ease and precise footwork.

Jaiswal also shared an unbroken 121-run stand off 69 balls for the second wicket with Sanju Samson, who finished at 48 not out off 29 balls, as Rajasthan got over the line with 41 balls to spare. The result also means Rajasthan jumped to third place on the points table with 12 points from as many games.

The 21-year old Jaiswal kick-started the chase of 150 in spectacular fashion, dancing down the pitch to loft Nitish Rana over long-on for six, followed by slog-sweeping for another maximum. His opening over onslaught continued when he danced down the pitch to drive past mid-off and cut fiercely twice to hit three fours, picking 26 runs off the over.

Though Jos Buttler was run-out for a duck, Jaiswal got a four thanks to an overthrow, and then hooked Harshit Rana for six. He went on to smash Shardul Thakur for three consecutive fours through mid-off, deep mid-wicket and cover, before taking a single to reach his fifty in 13 balls.

Post that, there was no stopping Jaiswal as he hammered a drive off Varun Chakaravarthy for four, followed by cutting and heaving off Harshit for a brace of boundaries. There was no respite in store for Kolkata as Samson pulled and whipped off Chakaravarthy for six and four respectively.

Jaiswal brought out the shot of the innings by backing away to loft inside-out over the extra-cover boundary off Sunil Narine in the seventh over, followed by pulling Suyash Sharma for another maximum.

Nothing went Kolkata's way as Samson was dropped by Narine off his own bowling, followed by the right-hander slapping Suyash for four and carting Anukul Roy for three sixes over the bowler's head.

While Samson thumped Chakaravarthy for six, Jaiswal brought out sweep, reverse-sweep for two boundaries, before finishing off the chase with another sweep off Thakur for a four to be 98 not out.

Brief Scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 149/7 in 20 overs (Venkatesh Iyer 57; Yuzvendra Chahal 4/25, Trent Boult 2/15) lost to Rajasthan Royals 151/1 in 13.1 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 98 not out, Sanju Samson 48 not out) by nine wickets.

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