MUMBAI: Rajasthan Royals spinner Yuzvendra Chahal expressed happiness after he got his first hattrick of IPL 2022, against Kolkata Knight Riders on Monday.
Jos Buttler's 103-run knock, his second of the season, and Chahal's five-wicket haul, which also included a hat-trick, powered Rajasthan Royals to a thrilling seven-run win against Kolkata Knight Riders here at the Brabourne Stadium.
"I had to take wickets in this match to change the result. I worked on my bowling. I spoke to the coaches and the skipper. I was thinking of a googly but then I didn't want to take a chance. Would have been happy with a dot ball as well on my hat-trick ball. My googly was coming out well and sent it down to Venkatesh Iyer," said Chahal in a post-match presentation.
The match was a cliff-hanger where the pendulum swung from one team to another as Kolkata Knight Riders were sailing through at one stage reaching the triple-figure mark in just 8.3 overs with Shreyas Iyer and Aaron Finch batting at the crease. But wickets from Chahal, Ashwin and Prasidh Krishna brought Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan Royals back in the game.
Ashwin took only one wicket but he got the prized scalp of dangerous Andre Russell leg before wicket for a golden duck.
Obed McCoy bowled the final over of the match with KKR needing 11 runs with two wickets in hand but the left-arm pacer dismissed Sheldon Jackson and Umesh Yadav to guide Rajasthan to the fourth win of the season.