KOLKATA: Jofra Archer last night hit the winning six to complete a successful run chase for Rajasthan Royals and end his Indian Premier League campaign on a high.
Archer, a bowling all-rounder who made an unbeaten 27 off 12 balls as Rajasthan chased down their target of 176 in 19.2 overs, and teammate Ben Stokes return to be with England ahead of the World Cup next month.
Indian teenager Riyan Parag smashed 47 off 31 balls before being out hit wicket in the penultimate over and Archer then completed the chase with a four and a six in the final over.
Uncapped Archer, who is included in next month’s one-day internationals against Pakistan and Ireland, has a chance to make the World Cup team. The final World Cup squad deadline is May 23.
Stokes is part of England’s 15-man preliminary World Cup squad.
Archer made an impact with 11 wickets in 11 games with an impressive economy rate of 6.76 in the Twenty20 tournament.
Stokes had a forgettable IPL, scoring just 123 runs in nine matches for the 2008 champions. He picked six wickets with his pace bowling.
Rajasthan are lying seventh in the eight-team table with just four wins off 11 matches so far but skipper Steve Smith lauded the contributions of Parag and Archer in the win against Kolkata.
Rajasthan were in a precarious position at 98-5 and 123-6 when the 17-year-old Parag and Archer put on a crucial 44-run stand for the seventh-wicket to revive the chase.
Earlier Kolkata skipper Dinesh Karthik scored an unbeaten 97 to steer his team to 175 for six after being put into bat first.
Karthik struck his career-best knock in T20 cricket as he hit seven fours and nine sixes during his 50-ball blitz.
Kolkata spinners Chawla and Sunil Narine of West Indies combined to share five wickets between them and dent the Rajasthan chase before Parag and Archer took the game away.
BRIEF SCORES: Rajasthan Royals 177 for 7 (Riyan 47, Rahane 34, Archer 27*, Chawla 3-20) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 175 for 6 (Karthik 97*, Aaron 2-20) by three wickets
TODAY’S FIXTURE: Chennai Super Kings v Mumbai Indians (Chennai, 5.30pm)