Sent in, RR were looking ominous at 59 for no loss after four overs, already their highest inside the powerplay, before the home side triggered a batting collapse on the visitors in the middle overs by taking six wickets for 31 runs.

With none of their middle-order batsmen showing any fight, it would have been worse for RR but No. 8 Jaydev Unadkat struck 26 from 18 balls (3x4, 1x6) before Prasidh Krishna dismissed him to end the innings in the 19th over.

The India chinaman spinner had a nightmarish outing in their last game here, leaking 43 runs in three overs against Mumbai Indians but it was a different evening today as he turned it around with the season’s best show of 4/20.

Shouldering extra responsibility in the absence of an injured Piyush Chawla (side strain), Yadav’s magic arm completely exposed RR’s frailty in tackling spin, as his four-for included the prized wicket of Jos Buttler (39 from 22 balls; 5x4, 2x6).

Coming in the eighth over, Kuldeep ran through his four overs and took a wicket in each of them to help KKR bounce back from a poor start.

Kuldeep started off by cleaning up RR skipper Ajinkya Rahane who continued his woeful form to get out for 11 and in the next over he denied Buttler a record sixth straight fifty.

Buttler too attempted a reverse sweep like Rahane but holed out at third man by Javon Searles.

It was Andre Russell (2/13 from three overs) who used his short-pitch ball strategy to full effect to dismiss Rahul Tripathi for 27 (15 balls; 4x4, 1x6).

Thereafter, KKR seized the momentum riding on Yadav and Sunil Narine’s tidy show (1/29).

Earlier, Mavi almost dismissed Tripathi first ball with an unplayable delivery in a superb first over that yielded just two runs.

But what unfolded from the second over was a series of boundaries and sixes from Buttler and Tripathi in a run sequence that read 6-4-4-4-4-6-4-4-6-4 as RR cruised to 50 in 20 balls.

Promoted to open the innings, Tripathi turned it around against Prasidh Krishna after the probing Mavi over, smashing the seamer for a six, followed by a hat-trick of boundaries.

Mavi came to bowl in the third over, and it was time for the in-form Buttler to explode with a series of boundaries and sixes as the youngster bled 28 runs

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