Rajasthan Royals edge Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL thriller

Rajasthan Royals defeated Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by seven runs in a high-scoring Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter on Monday.

Defending an imposing total of 217 for 5, Rajasthan dismissed their opponents for 210 in 19.4 overs.

The win was set up by Jos Buttler's 61-ball 103 and Yuzvendra Chahal's five-wicket haul (5-40) that included a hat-trick.

After losing the toss and sent to bat at Mumbai's Brabourne Stadium, Buttler and Devdutt Padikkal (24 off 18 balls) added 97 runs for Rajasthan's opening wicket stand.

After Padikkal's departure, Buttler combined with skipper Sanju Samson (38 off 19 balls) for a 67-run second-wicket partnership.

KKR responded well to Rajasthan's big score with skipper Shreyas Iyer (85 of 51 balls) and Aaron Finch (58 off 28 balls) scoring the bulk of the runs.

However, Chahal applied the brakes, removing Venkatesh Iyer off his first delivery and then Shreyas, Shivam Mavi and Pat Cummins off the fourth, fifth and sixth balls to change the course of the game.

The win helped Rajasthan move up to second in the 10-team points table, while KKR is placed sixth.