IPL 2018, Eliminator: KKR see off RR, sets up Qualifier 2 clash with SRH

Kolkata: Kolkata Knight Riders convincingly beat Rajasthan Royals by 25 runs to knock Ajinkya Rahane’s men out of the Indian Premier League here on Wednesday.

After losing Rahul Tripathi (20 runs) in the sixth over, Ajinkya Rahane (46) and Sanju Samson put up a 62-run partnership. However, Kuldeep Yadav got the much-needed breakthrough, removing the captain in the 15^th over.

Following this, Samson got to his third IPL fifty of the season only to depart in the very next ball he faced.

More worries seem to mount for the visitors as Prasidh Krishna dismissed Stuart Binny for a duck in the final ball of the 18^th over.

In the end, it was Dinesh Karthik’s men who had the last laugh as they took a step towards the final.

KKR next face Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Qualifier 2 encounter here on Friday, as the two teams battle for a place in the final on Sunday. The team that wins that match will face MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.  

RR 130-4 from 18 overs

WICKET! Prasidh Krishna strikes as Stuart Binny (0 runs) finds Chris Lynn at square leg. It is definitely game on now!

RR 126-3 from 16.5 overs

WICKET! Sanju Samson departs for 50 as RR lose another marquee batsman.

RR 125-2 from 16.3 overs

FIFTY! Sanju Samson gets to his third fifty this season as RR look to continue their positive momentum.

RR 109-2 from 14.1 overs

WICKET! Kuldeep Yadav strikes as KKR get their much-needed breakthrough by removing Ajinkya Rahane for 46.

RR 103-1 from 13 overs

100 UP! Ajinkya Rahane and Sanju Samson have taken RR past 100, as the target is almost nearing.

RR 87-1 after 10 overs

So, Rajasthan Royals are halfway through their run-chase at the halfway stage, with Ajinkya Rahane (35 runs) and Sanju Samson (20) at the crease. Will they cruise all the way to victory?

RR 51-1 after 6 overs:

CAUGHT AND BOWLED! Chawla gets the breakthrough. Tripathi looks to defend but pops one straight back to Chawla who sticks out his right hand to complete the catch. 

RR 9-0 after 1 over:

WHAT A START! Ajinkya Rahane has got the visitors off to a good start, scoring all the nine runs so far. Not a good over by Andre Rusell.

KKR innings

Dinesh Karthik and Andre Russell powered Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to 169-7 in the Eliminator against Rajasthan Royals at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday.

After the inaugural champs elected to bowl after winning the toss, Krishnappa Gowtham delivered a perfect start with wickets of Sunil Narine and Robin Uthappa in the powerplay.

Jofra Archer soon dismissed Nitish Rana as the hosts found themselves three wickets down in the first six overs. Chris Lynn was baffled with a googly by Shreyas Gopal as the pressure kept piling on the two-time winners.

Dinesh Karthik and Shubman Gill then struck a 55-run stand to peg things back in favour of the knights before Archer removed the youngster.

Karthik brought up his fifty but got caught out after he tried to smack Ben Laughlin for a bigger. From there on, Andre Russell took charge of the innings with some fearless hard-hitting to take the Knights to a solid total.  

KKR 169-7 after 20 overs:

CAUGHT! Laughlin bangs it short and slow, Searles swings hard and gets the height but not the elevation. Jofra Archer takes the catch in the deep.

KKR 157-6 after 19 overs:

CAUGHT! Karthik's fabulous knock comes to and end. Laughlin bowls it full, angling into the right-hander. The KKR skipper gets a top edge that finds Rahane at extra cover.

KKR 135-5 after 17 overs:

FIFTY! The skipper leads from the front once again. KKR will need Karthik to stay till the end.

KKR 116-5 after 16 overs:

Tidy over from Ish Sodhi, giving away just two runs. Finishes with figures of 4-0-15-0!

KKR 114-5 after 15 overs:

WICKET! Gill's vital cameo comes to an end. Makes room to slash towards point, but is undone by the extra bounce. Nicks one straight to the keeper.

KKR 102-4 after 14 overs:

100 UP! Gowtham is battered for 20 runs and KKR are on a roll here.

KKR 63-4 after 10 overs:

Another tight over from Gopal. The track has provided the turn and bounce for spinners and any total around 150 is what the hosts would aim for.

KKR 51-4 after 8 overs:

WHAT'S HAPPENING? Gopal joins the party now as Lynn departs cheaply. The Australian is done by the wrong 'un and presents a catching practice to the spinner.

KKR 46-3 after 6 overs:

Much needed over before the end of power play. Jaydev Unadkat leaks 14 runs and KKR have found their confidence back!

KKR 28-3 after 4 overs:

WICKET! Terrible shot. The pressure was taking toll on Rana and you could see it. Makes room to smack Archer on the off side, gets the toe edge that heads to Unadkat at mid-wicket.

KKR 22-2 after 3 overs:

AND GONE! Gowtham again and KKR lose their 2nd wicket in the power play. Fullish delivery, Uthappa looks to flick it but gets the leading edge that heads back straight to the bowler.

KKR 10-1 after 1 over:

BOWLED! Gowtham gets his revenge after being hit for a four. Sees Narine charging down, alters the length a bit short that moves quickly off the deck. Klaasen does the rest behind the wickets.

Preview: After a nail-biting first qualifier match between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), that saw the former ride into the finals, the eyes are now on the Eliminator.

Rajasthan Royals (RR) will lock horns with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday, to stay alive in the competition.

The Knights have been on song recently, having made it into the playoffs with three consecutive wins. The two-time winners beat table toppers SRH in their final encounter to book a playoff spot.

The story has been the same for the inaugural champs who have rediscovered their mojo heading into the top-four berth. At one stage, they were at the bottom of the table but Jos Butters’ terrific form and some hint of luck got them back in contention.

However, they will be without Buttler and Ben Stokes who have flown back to England to fulfill national duties and they cannot afford to make any mistake now.

An interesting battle of spinners will be one to look forward to. KKR spin troika of Sunil Narine, Kuldeep Yadav, and Piyush Chawla have so far accounted for 45 wickets this season, the most by any side. While for RR, the spin duo of Krishnappa Gowtham and Shreyas Gopal have also proved to be effective.

Toss:

The news from the center is that RR have won the toss and opted to bowl.

Here are the two teams for today -

Kolkata Knight Riders: Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa, Dinesh Karthik(w/c), Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Shubman Gill, Javon Searles, Piyush Chawla, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav

Rajasthan Royals: Rahul Tripathi, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Sanju Samson, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Krishnappa Gowtham, Stuart Binny, Jofra Archer, Ish Sodhi, Jaydev Unadkat, Shreyas Gopal, Ben Laughlin

Squads:

Kolkata Knight Riders: Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Chris Lynn, Dinesh Karthik(Captain/Wicket-keeper), Robin Uthappa, Mitchell Johnson, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Shubman Gill, Ishank Jaggi, Nitish Rana, Vinay Kumar, Apoorv Wankhade, Rinku Singh, Shivam Mavi, Cameron Delport, Javon Searles, Tom Curran, Prasidh Krishna.

Rajasthan Royals: Heinrich Klassen, Jaydev Unadkat, Sanju Samson, Jofra Archer, Krishnappa Gowtham, Ajinkya Rahane, Darcy Short, Rahul Tripathi, Dhawal Kulkarni, Zahir Khan Pakteen, Ben Laughlin, Stuart Binny, Dushmantha Chameera, Anureet Singh, Aryaman Vikram Birla, Midhun S, Shreyas Gopal, Prashant Chopra, Jatin Saxena, Ankit Sharma, Mahipal Lomror.

When is the match?

The match is scheduled to start at 7 P.M. IST on Wednesday, May 23rd.

Where is the match?

The match will take place at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

 Live telecast and timings:

With Star India now acquiring the media rights from Sony Pictures Network India for the upcoming season, the matches will be telecast on various Star Sports channels.

Live streaming:

The matches can be viewed live on Hotstar.com or on the Hotstar app.