Yuzvendra Chahal had an underwhelming outing against KKR but he still managed to take the crucial wicket of Shreyas Iyer.
Rajasthan Royals ace spinner Yuzvendra Chahal stretched his lead at the top of the Purple Cap race with a wicket against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. The leg-spinner has claimed 12 wickets in 7 matches and sitting comfortably at the top of the table. He had an underwhelming outing on Tuesday against KKR but still managed to take the crucial wicket of opposition skipper Shreyas Iyer.
Yuzvendra Chahal has claimed 12 wickets in 6 matches.(AP)
It was one of the rare days when his plans didn’t work courtesy a Sunil Narine carnage in Kolkata as the Windies star smashed his maiden IPL century. However, Jos Buttler completely changed the script with a counter-attacking century as RR chased down a 224-run target on the final ball.
Unlock exclusive access to the story of India’s general elections, only on the HT App. Download Now!
Meanwhile, Chahal has a two-wicket lead over premier MI pacer Jasprit Bumrah who has claimed 10 scalps in 6 matches. He has been the only saving grace in the MI bowling attack this season thus far. With more than half of the season left, Bumrah will look to get the better of Chahal to grab the coveted Purple Cap.
Also Read | Jos Buttler steals Sunil Narine’s show in Eden battle of centuries as Rajasthan upstage Kolkata at IPL 2024
CSK pacer Mustafizur Rahman is placed at the third spot on the tally with 10 wickets but he an inferior economy rate to Bumrah. Meanwhile, he has a very low chance of finishing the top-wicket take of the season as he will leave the season midway. However, the Bangladesh Cricket Board has extended Mustafizur Rahman’s No-Objection Certificate (NOC) for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by one day. With this, Mustafizur is now eligible for CSK’s back-to-back games against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on April 19 and 23, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on April 28, and the PBKS on May 1.
The next two spots are acquired by Pat Cummins and Kagiso Rabada respectively. The duo has claimed 9 wickets each but Cummins has a better economy rate than the PBKS paceman.
