As it happened: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals, Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

Rajasthan Royals defended 217 by the skin of their teeth in an instant IPL classic at Brabourne Stadium, with debutant Obed McCoy rearranging Umesh Yadav’s stumps to see out a nerve-jangling win.

Kolkata Knight Riders were pinned against the ropes as Jos Buttler hit his second hundred of the season and his third in his last seven IPL innings, playing out Sunil Narine but dominating the rest of their attack on his way to 103 off 61 balls. He was supported ably by Sanju Samson and Shimron Hetmyer, as Royals plundered the highest total of the season.

But after a false start, which saw Narine run out without facing a ball after his promotion to pinch-hit at the top of the order, KKR fought back. Aaron Finch led the charge with 58 off 28 balls, adding 107 in just 8.5 overs with Shreyas Iyer.

Yuzvendra Chahal appeared to have won the match in his final over: he had Venkatesh Iyer stumped off the first ball, a ripping googly, then removed Shreyas, Shivam Mavi and Pat Cummins to complete his first IPL hat-trick and five-for and leave KKR needing 38 off 18 balls with two wickets in hand.

With nothing to lose, Umesh swung hard. Trent Boult’s final over cost 20 runs, including two sixes and a four, to leave 18 required off the final two. But Prasidh Krishna conceded only seven, and McCoy held his nerve with two wickets in four balls to seal a breathless win.

A brilliant 19th over by Prasidh Krishna. Obed McCoy, on IPL debut, will bowl the 20th. How are your nerves?!

The 18th over swings it back towards KKR. Umesh Yadav gets out the long handle and belts Trent Boult for two sixes and a four... Rajasthan are back on the ropes!

Yuzi Chahal has turned this game on its head in the space of an over.

First, his googly is too good for Venkatesh Iyer, who runs past it and is stumped by Sanju Samson, atoning for his earlier drop. Then, he tosses one up, full and straight, to pin Shreyas Iyer lbw, with the on-field decision upheld on review.

With the penultimate ball of the over, he tempts Shivam Mavi into a wild heave down the ground, which Riyan Parag settles underneath, and Pat Cummins edges the final one behind to give him a hat-trick!

Huge moment. Andre Russell falls first ball, his off stump knocked back by a perfect carrom ball from R Ashwin. Rajasthan are back in this!

Nitish Rana tucks into Yuzi Chahal with back-to-back boundaries, but then slog-sweeps one straight up into Buttler's hands at long-off. This is getting tight...

Prasidh Krishna has taken some tap but he makes the crucial breakthrough for Rajasthan, ending a partnership of 107 runs in 8.5 between Finch and Shreyas. It wasn't a great ball - short and wide outside the off stump - but Finch mistimed his cut, sending it high up into the air and allowing Karun Nair to settle underneath it. Game on.

Most teams slow down in the overs immediately after the powerplay. KKR have sped up, adding 36 runs in two overs. Suddenly, they are starting to look like the favourites in this match - though ESPNcricinfo's forecaster suggests they only have a 30% chance of winning at this stage.

Aaron Finch has struggled badly of late but looks in the mood tonight, lofting the final ball of the powerplay over long-off for six off R Ashwin to move to 23 off 16 balls.

Shreyas, meanwhile, has hit six boundaries in the first six overs. While most young captains have been obsessed by the idea of playing with responsibility this IPL season, Shreyas has made several fast starts. His strike rate in the first six overs this season is 168.18, the highest of any batter to face 30+ balls in the powerplay.

An all-action first over of the run chase. Aaron Finch barbecues pinch-hitter Sunil Narine off the first ball, nudging it straight to Shimron Hetmyer and setting off regardless. Hetmyer's direct hit means Narine is run out by a long way, without facing a ball.

Intriguingly, Shreyas Iyer comes out at No. 3 ahead of Venkatesh Iyer, who appears to have been given a new role in the middle order tonight after a slow start to the season while opening. He gets up and running with back-to-back boundaries, in keeping with his high powerplay strike rate this season.

Jos Buttler, the man of the moment, spoke to the host broadcaster during the interval.

"I think I was a little bit more fluent today, once I got going. It was great to get such a good score on the board but with one very short side, you're never quite sure if you've got enough.

"It was a little bit sticky at the start, but once we got the pace of the wicket, it felt like a really nice one. It's tough for the bowlers with that one really short side - that's going to play a huge part and we're going to have to be smart in how we try and defend that.

"I've loved batting with Hetty. He loves to have a lot of fun in the middle - he's always smiling and I think that's bringing out the best in me as well. We've had some nice partnerships - he's played unbelievably well so far, finishing off the innings for us."

That's the highest team total this season. Set up by Buttler, finished off by Samson and then Hetmyer.

It won't get as much attention as Ashwin's decision to retire out against Gujarat, but there was an interesting call from Hetmyer with a ball to go, turning down a single off Andre Russell in order to keep the strike for the final ball, rather than giving it to Ashwin. Off the last ball of the 20th over, he slapped Russell over extra cover for four - who knows how important those extra runs might be?

A remarkable hundred from a remarkable player. Jos Buttler brings up his century by slapping Pat Cummins down the ground for six.

It's his third for Rajasthan Royals - the most by any player - and his fourth hundred in his last 23 T20 innings, having gone 259 innings without one since his debut in the format. It's also his second of the season, and his third in his last seven IPL innings.

Just 5 runs off the 9 balls he faced from Sunil Narine - but 98 off 52 against everyone else.

At his best, Varun Chakravarthy ties batters down, keeping one man on strike and keeping him guessing as to whether the ball is turning in or away from him.

But tonight, Rajasthan - and Buttler in particular - have ensured that he's been unable to do that, restricting him to a single dot ball in his two overs so far. That means Shreyas has been forced to throw the ball to his sixth bowler, Andre Russell, who will bowl at least one over - and possibly two - at the death.

Wondering why Narine has a different shirt number tonight? It's his 150th appearance for KKR - 141 of them in the IPL, 9 in the now-defunct CLT20. He's been with the franchise since 2012 and is their most-capped player - and his first over costs just three runs, in keeping with his incredibly parsimonious season to date.

60 for 0 after the powerplay for the Royals - their second-highest powerplay total this season, and highest batting first. This looks like a dry, flat pitch and KKR have had to adjust their bowling plans in an attempt to defend the short boundary on one side.

Buttler, meanwhile, now has 196 powerplay runs in IPL 2022, averaging 98.0 with a strike rate of 153.1 in the first six overs. There are few - if any - batters in the world in this phase of a T20 innings.

Buttler is up and running with a 100-metre six off Umesh Yadav, slapped over wide mid-on with a crack of the wrists. Rajasthan are going nicely now - how long until Shreyas Iyer throws the ball to his spinners to try and stem the flow? Not long at all: Varun will bowl the fourth over.

An early boundary for Devdutt Padikkal takes him to 1,000 IPL runs in just his 35th appearance - 29 of them for RCB, six for RR.

Obed McCoy makes his Rajasthan Royals debut - and IPL debut - tonight, one of three changes in their side. Trent Boult is fit again and Karun Nair plays, so Rassie van der Dussen, Jimmy Neesham and Kuldeep Sen sit out.

McCoy hasn't played a professional game since October, when he picked up an injury in West Indies' opening T20 World Cup fixture that ruled him out of the rest of the tournament, but he is highly rated in the Caribbean and seen as a potential leader of their seam attack if he can maintain his fitness ahead of this year's World Cup in Australia.

Both Ian Bishop and Samuel Badree cited his absence as a major problem when I spoke to them earlier this year for a feature on West Indies' T20I struggles, suggesting they lacked an attacking, wicket-taking bowler like him.

Just the one change for KKR: Shivam Mavi replaces Aman Khan, meaning Aaron Finch keeps his place at the top of the order.

No hesitation in choosing to bowl from Shreyas Iyer - not that there has been much from captains throughout this season: this is the 30th match of IPL 2022 and the 30th time in a row that a captain has chosen to bowl first at the toss.