On a sluggish, slippery Wankhede Stadium track, Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh countered an early wobble to ensure Kolkata Knight Riders chased down 153 to end their five-match losing streak. Following early gains by Trent Boult and Prasidh Krishna for Rajasthan Royals, Rana and Rinku shredded R Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal, respectively, to bring the mark within reach of Knight Riders.
On Monday, Rana dismissed Ashwin for 23 runs off 14 deliveries, bringing his IPL head-to-head record against the spinner to 99 runs off 52 balls. He initially put up a 60-run third-wicket stand with Shreyas Iyer (34) and then a livelier 66-run partnership with Rinku to help Knight Riders win.
Sanju Samson's bad luck with the toss continued - he has only won one out of ten tosses this IPL - but the Royals produced a good showing in defense by keeping the ball deep. With 31 needed from 18 balls, Rinku struck Chahal for back-to-back fours to virtually end the game. With five balls to spare, Rana sealed the victory with an uppercut six against Kuldeep Sen.
Aaron Finch's bad luck continued early on when he was cleaned out by Kuldeep Sen as KKR got off to a slow start in their pursuit. The KKR batters struggled against a slow-paced Wankhede pitch that made shot-making difficult.