Cummins'' 4-wicket haul gives KKR hope, RR drop out of race

Pat Cummins took four wickets as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) recorded a valuable 60-run win over Rajasthan Royals (RR) in their final Indian Premier League (IPL) group stage match on Sunday at the Dubai International Stadium. Chasing a target of 192, RR only managed a paltry 131/9 in their 20 overs and their campaign came to an end.

The win takes KKR to fourth spot temporarily due to the two-point lead they gain over SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH), who face the dominant Mumbai Indians in their final group game on Tuesday. RR, meanwhile, drop down to the bottom of the table.

KKR were pushed to 191/7 by captain Eoin Morgan who scored an unbeaten 68 off 35 balls. RR then got off to a disastrous start to the steep chase, losing Robin Uthappa, Ben Stokes, captain Steve Smith, Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag within the first five overs. Cummins accounted for the wickets of Uthappa, Stokes who fell thanks to a blinder of a catch from wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik, Smith and Parag while Samson fell to Mavi.

With the win, KKR rose to 14 points thus momentarily placing them in fourth place. Their net run rate has improved to -0.214 but it remains lesser than that of fifth placed SRH (+0.555) who are on 12 points.

Earlier, Eoin Morgan finally came to the party with a blistering 68 off 35 balls to lead his team to 191/7. He smashed his England team mate Ben Stokes to all corners of the park in the 19th over.

Cummins first hit a six off the second ball of the over after which he brought Morgan on strike with a single. Morgan then hit consecutive sixes and a four as KKR took a total of 24 runs from that over. Morgan hit a six off the last ball of the innings to take KKR beyond 190.

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Brief scores: KKR 191/7 in 20 overs (Eoin Morgan 68 not out, Rahul Tripathi 39; Rahul Tewatia 3/25) vs RR 131/9 in 20 overs (Jos Buttler 35, Rahul Tewatia 31; Pat Cummins 4/34).