Rajasthan Royals beat Knight Riders to enter IPL play-offs

Mumbai, May 17 (CRICKETNMORE) - Rajasthan Royals beat defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders by 9 runs to secure a place in the Indian Premier League 2015 play-offs here on Saturday.

Rajasthan Royals Innings - Rajasthan won the toss and opted to bat first in a crucial IPL encounter. Shane Watson's cracking unbeaten century (104* off 59 balls) helped Rajasthan to post a mammoth total of 199/6 from 20 overs. An opening stand of 80 runs from 6.2 overs between Watson and Rahane (37 of 22 balls). A Russell (3/32) was the pick of the bowlers for Kolkata Knight Riders.

Kolkata Knight Riders Innings - Chasing down the victory target of 200, Kolkata lost the match by 9 runs. Yousuf Pathan (44) and A Russell (37) remained the top scorer for Kolkata. Umesh Yadav (24*) hit some big shots in the end Kolkata but the team fell short of the target, managing 190/9 in 20 overs. Chirs Morris brilliant bowling (4/23) played an important role in Rajasthan's victory.

Man of the Match - Brilliant allround performance by Shane Watson (104* runs and 2/38) won him the man of the match award.

Quotes

Watson - "It's nice to contribute in such a big game. Pitch was nice and we backed ourselves to go after the bowling which came off. Leaving captaincy has helped me especially with the ball. It's hard for me to decide when to bowl myself or not to as a captain. Anyone can win in this tournament and the format is unpredictable. I think this is as good as I've batted in a long time. I am hitting the ball a lot better today and hope I can do this always."

Man of the Match - Shane Watson

Smith - "It was a massive game for us and a must-win game. These are the moments you play cricket for and more sweeter to come out on top. The break was nice and the boys came ready for the challenge. We had belief in the group that we could turn it around. The attitude we came out with especially early with the bat set the platform for us. Wicket was pretty good and it got tight in the end. Happy to get over the line."

Gambhir - "Credit to Rajasthan for the way they batted. 198 on any pitch takes some getting and Watson was brilliant. Always difficult to chase a big score like this. We knew it would be a high scoring game but they scored maybe a bit too many. Losing wickets in the early powerplay overs cost the chase.

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