Out of form Indian bowler Yuzvendra Chahal has managed to claim a hat-trick after Englishman Jos Buttler scored a blazing century as Rajasthan Royals bagged their victory against Kolkata Knight Riders by 7 runs in a thrilling encounter in Match 30 of the TATA IPL 2022 at the Brabourne Stadium on Monday.

Some brilliant batting performances by Shreyas Iyer (85) and Aaron Finch (58) were overshadowed by Chahal’s brilliant bowling spell who claimed the wickets of Shreyas, Shivam Mavi and Pat Cummins off consecutive deliveries in the 17th over and turned the match on its head. He ended with 5/40 in his four overs.

However, there was some late drama in the match as well as Umesh Yadav and Sheldon Jackson dragged KKR to the verge of victory, 11 runs off the last six deliveries before they fell short by seven runs in the edge-of-the-seat thriller.

It seemed like KKR were cruising to victory after opener Aaron Finch struck a quick-fire 58 of 28 balls and skipper Shreyas Iyer, who scored an impressive 85 off 51 deliveries. Both Finch and Shreyas shared a partnership of 106 runs for the second wicket in quick time.

But Chahal turned the tides by claiming the 21st hat-trick of Indian Premier League (IPL) as he dismissed Shreyas Iyer, trapped lbw trying to whip a delivery pitching on the middle. On the next delivery of the 17th over, Chahal had Shivam Mavi caught by Riyan Parag and completed his hat-trick when Pat Cummins edged back to Sanju Samson — going off for a lengthy celebration. That completed a five-wicket haul for Chahal as he had claimed the wickets of Nitish Rana and Venkatesh Iyer earlier — the pencil-thin spinner ending with 5/40 off his four overs.

Just when it looked like Rajasthan Royals would wrap up the innings with KKR needing 38 runs off 18 balls and two wickets in hand, Umesh Yadav blasted 20 runs off the 18th over bowled by Trent Boult and raise KKR’s hopes again. He and Sheldon Jackson took made it 11 needed off six balls but could not complete the task as both of them were out in the last over bowled by Obed McCoy as the Knight Riders ended with 210 all out, falling short by seven runs.

Earlier, Englishman Jos Buttler (103) struck his second century of IPL 2022 to help Rajasthan Royals post a massive 217/5 in 20 overs.

Jos Buttler, opening the innings, blasted nine boundaries and five sixes as he shared vital partnerships of 97, for the opening wicket with Devdutt Padikkal (24), and 67 for the second with skipper Sanju Samson, who played a superb cameo of 38 off 19 balls, to put Rajasthan Royals on course for a big total.

Shimron Hetmyer (26 not out off 13 balls) hammered fellow West Indies star Andre Russell for 18 runs in the 20th over, including sixes of successive balls and a four, as Royals set Knight Riders 218 to win the match.

But in the end, Rajasthan Royals held their nerves to secure a narrow win, thanks to Chahal and Obed McCoy’s heroic efforts.

(Inputs from IANS)