'Legend' Chahal jumps Bravo as IPL's most prolific bowler

Rajasthan leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has now taken more wickets than anyone in the history of the Indian Premier League as he spearheaded the Royals' rise back into the top four.

His milestone came as the Rajasthan Royals crushed Kolkata Knight Riders by nine wickets at Eden Gardens, snapping a three-game losing streak.

Chahal grabbed 4-25 to surpass Dwayne Bravo's record of 183 and stretch his wickets tally for the season to 21.

Chahal's bowling buckled down Kolkata at 8-149 before young left-handed opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (98 not out) smashed a 13-ball half-century and sped Rajasthan to 1-151 in only 13.1 overs.

The victory pushed Rajasthan to third on the table with 12 points and dropped Mumbai Indians to fourth on net-run-rate. Kolkata slipped to seventh with 10 points as the battle for the four playoff spots heats up.

Jaiswal put the game beyond Kolkata's reach in the first over when he smacked 26 against Nitish Rana's off-spin bowling.

Jaiswal came close to equalling Yuvraj Singh's IPL record of a 12-ball half-century before flicking Shardul Thakur to deep square leg for a single to complete his fifty off 13 balls.

Jos Buttler was the lone wicket to fall without scoring when he was run out by a direct hit from Andre Russell at the non-striker's end before captain Sanju Samson also made a rapid unbeaten 48 off 29 balls to the disappointment of Kolkata home fans.

Jaiswal's ruthless display of power-hitting resulted in 10 fours and five sixes, while Samson was also destructive, smashing five sixes and two fours in a century stand.

"I didn't have to do anything, just rotate strike and watch," Samson said while praising Jaiswal's batting. "It's time to give Chahal the legend tag. Very grateful to have him, you just need to give him the ball without saying anything."

Earlier, Trent Boult (2-15) lived up to his knack of picking up wickets in the powerplay when he dismissed two big Kolkata hitters in Jason Roy (10) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (18).

Chahal then squeezed the runs in the middle overs with his sharp leg-spinners and googlies. Chahal had the big wickets of top-scorer Venkatesh Iyer, who made 57 off 42 balls, and Rana as both tried to accelerate by going for big shots.

Chahal then returned in the death overs and accounted for the wickets of Thakur and another Kolkata power-hitter Rinku Singh, who made 16 off 18 balls before holing out in the deep against the leg-spinner in the penultimate over.

Chahal now has 187 IPL wickets, with Thursday's effort his seventh four-wicket haul.

"Jaiswal's innings was praiseworthy," Rana said. "I bowled first (over) because I thought I could gamble as a part-timer and get the in-form Jaiswal out but it was his day."

IPL 2023 standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Ties T	No results N/R	Net Run Rate NRR	Deductions Ded.	Total points PTS
1 Gujarat Titans GUT	14	10	4	0	0	0.809	0	20
2 Chennai Super Kings CSK	14	8	5	0	1	0.652	0	17
3 Lucknow Super Giants LSG	14	8	5	0	1	0.284	0	17
4 Mumbai Indians MI	14	8	6	0	0	-0.044	0	16
5 Rajasthan Royals RAJ	14	7	7	0	0	0.148	0	14
6 Royal Challengers Bengaluru Men RCB	14	7	7	0	0	0.135	0	14
7 Kolkata Knight Riders KKR	14	6	8	0	0	-0.239	0	12
8 Punjab Kings KXI	14	6	8	0	0	-0.304	0	12
9 Delhi Capitals Men DEL	14	5	9	0	0	-0.808	0	10
10 Sunrisers Hyderabad SUN	14	4	10	0	0	-0.59	0	8

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

T: Ties

N/R: No results

NRR: Net Run Rate

Ded.: Deductions

PTS: Total points

Aussies in IPL 2023

Delhi Capitals: Mitch Marsh ($1.2m), David Warner ($1.16m)

Gujarat Titans: Matthew Wade ($446,000)

Lucknow Super Giants: Marcus Stoinis ($1.7m), Daniel Sams ($135,000)

Mumbai Indians: Tim David ($1.53m), Cameron Green ($3.15m), Jason Behrendorff ($135,000), Riley Meredith ($272,000)

Punjab Kings: Nathan Ellis ($135,000), Matt Short ($36,000)

Rajasthan Royals: Adam Zampa ($270,000)

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Josh Hazlewood ($1.4m), Glenn Maxwell ($2m)

Figures represent auction price in Australian dollars at time of sale