IPL 2018 Qualifier 2: Rashid Khan chokes KKR as SRH book ticket to final

Kolkata: Rashid Khan’s all-round show saw Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) knock out Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Qualifier 2 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Friday at the Eden Gardens.

The Orange Army who were on a run of four back to back defeats will now face Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the final.

Chasing a target of 170 after electing to bowl first, the hosts started strongly through Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn. But Siddharth Kaul deceived the dangerous Narine to get the first breakthrough inside the powerplay.

Lynn and Nitish Rana then absorbed the pressure before the Rashid Khan broke the partnership through some fine fielding that resulted in a run-out.

Much was expected from the Knights as the chase looked on but they ran out of steam. Rashid and Shakib Al Hasan accounted for the wickets of Robin Uthappa and Dinesh Karthik respectively to put the pressure on the Knights.

Rashid, however, was not done yet. The Afghan spinner removed two dangerous batsmen - Lynn and Andre Russell to put the visitors in control.

Shubman Gill couldn't contribute much despite his valiant cameo as he lost partners Piyush Chawla and Shivam Mavi at the other end.

The pressure proved to be too much as Kane Williamson and co made it difficult for the opposition to get back in the game.

KKR 118-6 after 15 overs:

CAUGHT! The Rashid show is unfolding at the Edens. Another googly, another wicket. Turns back in towards Russell, who plays the late cut too close to his body. Nicks one to Dhawan at first slip.

KKR 112-5 after 13 overs:

LBW! Can anyone keep Rashid out of the game? That has been Lynn's story of the night, countering spin with sweep, pays the price this time. Another googly by Rashid skids quickly and the opener is struck on the pads.

KKR 108-4 after 12 overs:

BOWLED! And the KKR camp is stunned. Shakib bowls one on a good length, turning in sharply. Karthik expects it to turn away and play the cut but eventually chops it on. Big wicket this.

KKR 104-3 after 11 overs:

100 UP FOR KKR! Chris Lynn has cautiously taken charge of the innings so far. Can Dinesh Karthik and the Australian build a steady partnership here?

BOWLED! Rashid gets his first wicket of the night. Wrong shot selection by Uthappa as he reverse sweeps on a googly by Rashid. The leg stump is rattled.

KKR 88-2 after 9 overs:

RUN OUT! What's happening? Rana tucks away a fullish delivery by Shakib towards mid-wicket and Rashid, who in the middle of all action, produces a stunning throw towards the keeper's end as Rana is short of his crease for the second run.

KKR 67-1 after 6 overs:

End of powerplay! Narine delivered just the start KKR needed but can Rana and Lynn take over from where the West Indian left?

KKR 46-1 after 4 overs:

WICKET! Knuckle ball by Kaul and Narine miscues his shot. Finds Brathwaite in the deep.

KKR 38-0 after 3 overs:

Pressure taking the toll on Bhuvneshwar as he is creamed for four boundaries in the over, giving away 19 runs. Three of the four deliveries he was hit for have been full tosses.

1st innings:

Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan stole the show in the second half of Sunrisers Hyderabad’s innings as his 10-ball 34 guided the visitors to 174-7 in the second Qualifier game of the Indian Premier League against Kolkata Knight Riders on Friday.

After a strong start, the visitors lost Shikhar Dhawan for 34 runs.  Kane Williamson, though, failed to get a start in what was a rare instance as he was dismissed for just three runs.

Wriddhiman Saha was the next hope, but he was stumped by Dinesh Karthik off Piyush Chawla’s bowling as SRH began to collapse.

However, all was not lost as Shakib Al Hasan (28 runs) played a cameo before he was run-out by Kuldeep Yadav.

Things went from bad to worse for the Men in Orange, as they lost Deepak Hooda (19), Carlos Brathwaite (8) and Yusuf Pathan (3) within the next three overs.

However, in the end, the Afghan cricketer was the star of the show as he powered the Men in Orange to a strong total. 

SRH 138-7 after 18.1 overs

WICKET! Shivam Mavi strikes as Yusuf Pathan departs for three runs, courtesy a catch by Piyush Chawla at long-off.

SRH 134-6 after 17.5 overs

WICKET! What a fantastic job by Nitish Rana, as he runs out Carlos Brathwaite for eight runs.

SRH 124-5 after 16.5 overs

WICKET! Sunil Narine removes Deepak Hooda 19 as Piyush Chawla takes a good catch at backward point.

SRH 113-4 after 15.1 overs

WICKET! Shakib Al Hasan is run-out for 28 by Kuldeep Yadav as KKR get another wicket.

SRH 84-3 after 10.3 overs

WICKET! Dinesh Karthik stumps Wriddhiman Saha for 35 as SRH lose another crucial wicket at a crucial time. Will the Men in Orange recover ?

SRH 79-2 after 10 overs

Wriddhiman Saha has responded strongly after losing two quick wickets-that of Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson.

SRH 60-2 after 7.5 overs

WICKET! Kuldeep Yadav is ecstatic as he removes captain Kane Williamson for three runs, thanks to a catch by Dinesh Karthik.

SRH 56-1 after 7.1 overs

WICKET! Shikhar Dhawan is struck lbw by Kuldeep Yadav for 34 as the latter provides the breakthrough for KKR.

SRH 18-0 after 3 overs

Shikhar Dhawan has gone past 4000 runs in IPL. Today, he is looking set for a big innings. Will Dhawan score a century tonight?

SRH 4-0 after 1 over

Good start by Shivam Mavi for KKR. Just four runs coming from the first over.

Toss update

Kolkata Knight Riders have won the toss and will field.

The hosts have made just one change, bringing in Shivam Mavi in place of Javon Searles.

For SRH, Deepak Hooda, Wriddhiman Saha and debutant Khaleel Ahmed have come in for Manish Pandey, Sreevats Goswami and Sandeep Sharma.

Here is how the teams lineup:

Preview

It will be all to play for when Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) host Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the second qualifier of the Indian Premier League (IPL) here on Friday.

KKR beat Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 25 runs in the eliminator whereas SRH just gave away the match to Chennai Super Kings (CSK), who advanced to the final with a two-wicket win in Mumbai.

While KKR are on a four-match unbeaten streak, SRH have lost their last four matches in this competition.

SRH were dominant by defending low scores in the first half of the tournament, but were unable to do as Faf du Plessis’s heroics spoilt their party in the first qualifier.

It will be a battle between the mystery spinners-Sunil Narine and Rashid Khan, as they go head-to-head in the winner-takes-all contest.

While Rashid Khan has got 18 wickets, Sunil Narine has scalped 16 wickets so far.

KKR not only have a home advantage, but also hold the upper hand in terms of head-to-head. Overall, KKR have won nine of their 15 encounters against SRH, whereas Kane Williamson’s side have managed to win only one game out of six at the Eden Gardens.

Both the captains will need to play a crucial role for their sides. While Williamson is the league’s highest run-getter this season with 685 runs, Dinesh Karthik has been most often known for the role of a finisher this season.

Overall, this match promises to be another cracking contest, and undoubtedly both the teams will be eager to book a place in the IPL final.

 

Squads:

 

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

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Kane Williamson (Captain),  Shikhar Dhawan, Shreevats Goswami, Kane Manish Pandey, Shakib Al Hasan, Yusuf Pathan, Carlos Brathwaite, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan, Siddarth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma, Alex Hales, Wriddhiman Saha, Deepak Hooda, T Natarajan, Mohammad Nabi, Basil Thampi, K Khaleel Ahmed, Sachin Baby, Chris Jordan, Tanmay Agarwal, Bipul Sharma, Mehdi Hasan, Ricky Bhui.

 

When is the match?

The match is scheduled to start at 7 P.M. IST on Friday, May 25th.

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.