But there was some more drama in store in the match 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. Yadav blasted 19 out of 20 runs of the 18th over bowled by New Zealander Trent Boult as they raised KKR's hopes of a seemingly unlikely victory.

 

But both of them fell in the last over bowled by Obed McCoy, trying to go for victory as KKR ended their innings at 210 all out in 19.4 overs, falling short by 7 runs.

 

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

 

But Yuzvendra Chahal turned the match on its head 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, Buttler (103) scored his second century of IPL 2022 and skipper Sanju Samson (38) and Shimron Hetmyer (26 not out) struck vital cameos to help Rajasthan Royals post a massive 217/5 in 20 overs.

 

Buttler, opening the innings, blasted nine boundaries and five sixes in his 61-ball 103 while Samson blazed to a 19-ball 38 and Hetmyer struck sixes off successive balls in the last over off Andre Russell as Rajasthan Royals posted a challenging total on a wicket on which chasing is expected to be easy because of the dew.

 

Asked to bat first, Buttler shared vital partnerships of 97, for the opening wicket with Devdutt Padikkal, 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.

 

This was Buttler's second century in this IPL after he scored a 68-ball 100 against Mumbai Indians on April 2. He joined an elite list of batsmen that includes the likes of AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla, Shane Watson and Shikhar Dhawan to score two centuries in an IPL edition. Virat Kohli holds the record of scoring four centuries in the 2010 edition of the tournament.

 

His brilliant batting and superb bowling by Chahal and McCoy helped Rajasthan Royals register their fourth win of IPL 2022 and move to the second spot in the table with eight points. KKR have six points from seven matches.

 

Brief scores: Rajasthan Royals 217/5 in 20 overs (Jos Buttler 103, Sanju Samson 38; Shimron Hetmyer 26 not out; Sunil Narine 2/21) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 210 all out in 19.4 overs (Aaron Finch 58, Shreyas Iyer 85, Umesh Yadav 21; Yuzvendra Chahal 5/40, Obed McCoy 2/41) by 7 runs.