IPL 2019: Karthik's Kolkata beat Rahane-led Rajasthan by 8 wickets

Openers Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn tore the Rajasthan bowling attack to shreds to help Kolkata notch up an easy eight-wicket win.

Chasing 140 for a win, Narine (47) and Lynn (50) shared 91 runs for the opening stand in 8.3 overs to take the game away from Rajasthan as Kolkata reached the target with 6.1 overs to spare.

The win, which took Kolkatato the top of the table with eight points from five matches (4 wins and 1 loss), was the best of this season in terms of number of balls to spare.

Narine contributed 47, his best of this IPL season, from 25 balls from which he hit six fours and three sixes while Lynn made an exact 50 from 32 deliveries, with the help of six boundaries and three sixes.

Earlier,Australian batsman SteveSmith struck his first half-century of this IPL season as he remained not out on 73 off 59 deliveries after the home side were invited to bat on a tricky track.

The former Australia captain hit seven fours and one six in his unbeaten knock.

He shared 72 runs in 10.4 overs with opener Jos Buttler (37 off 34 balls) for the second wicket after captain Ajinkya Rahane was out cheaply for 5 in the second over.

On a slow track at the Sawai Man Singh stadium, the runs were a premium as the ball did not come on to the bat easily.

The stadium was also engulfed by a sandstorm before the tie but the match started on time.

The home side were 56 for 1 at halfway stage but increased the scoring rate at the back end of the innings to add 83 runs from the next 10 overs with Smith scoring the bulk of the runs.