Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals: A Thrilling Encounter

 The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and the Rajasthan Royals (RR) faced off in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on May 12, 2023, at the iconic Eden Gardens stadium in Kolkata. The match was a must-win for both teams, as they were trying to secure a spot in the playoffs of the tournament. The game lived up to its hype and provided a lot of drama, excitement, and memorable moments. Here are some of the highlights captured in pictures:

KKR won the toss and elected to bat first. Their openers, Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana, gave them a solid start by scoring 50 runs in the powerplay without losing a wicket.

However, RR's bowlers, led by Jofra Archer and Chris Morris, fought back and took wickets at regular intervals to restrict KKR to a modest total of 150/7 in 20 overs.

RR started their chase aggressively, with their captain Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler hitting some big shots. However, KKR's spinners, Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine, put the brakes on their scoring and picked up crucial wickets.

The game was in the balance till the last over, when RR needed 10 runs to win off 6 balls with 2 wickets in hand. KKR's fast bowler Pat Cummins took the responsibility and bowled a brilliant over, giving away only 4 runs and taking the last 2 wickets to seal a thrilling victory for his team.

The match also had some lighter moments, such as when KKR's Andre Russell took a stunning catch on the boundary line while doing a backflip, or when RR's Riyan Parag did the Bihu dance after hitting a six.