New Delhi:
Kolkata Knight Riders will face Rajasthan Royals in the Eliminator of Indian Premier League 2018 at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Wednesday.
KKR ended the league stage on the third position of the table with 16 points, while RR finished just behind KKR on the fourth position with 14 points.
Team Record at Eden Gardens: KKR have dominated the previous face-offs with 5 wins in comparison to RR’s 1 win.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Andre Russell, Man of the Match: "It feels very good. It has been a hectic road since the game against KXIP. Every game moving forward has been like a final. We know how important this was and it feels good to have contributed with the bat and the ball. (On his batting prowess) I think it is just a clear head. You get a short ball, you get a slower ball or a wide ball, you try to play a shot accordingly. It is about having a still base. I try to swing hard and believe in my ability. I have some good sticks as well."
Dinesh Karthik: "I think winning 4 games on the row feels good. Especially this one as we were under the pump. Credit to Shubman Gill. Absorbed all the pressure when he walked in. Before he got out, he played some lovely shots and eased the pressure off me. In these games, it is about the attitude and the belief about how much you have got. In these kind of crunch games, it is never about the par score; it's about how much pressure you can put on the other side. Touch wood, the bowlers have picked up their game. We fielded well as well today, which was good to see."
Rahane: "Disappointed, especially given how we started, taking 4-5 wickets early. That partnership (between Karthik and Gill) and the dropped catch of Russell hurt us. When you get a start like that, you generally look to win the game. I think KKR bowled really well. They know the conditions really well. It was gettable. They were 10-12 runs short. It's important to finish the games and we didn't have partnerships towards the end. When me and Sanju were batting, we were looking to play positively."
# KKR win by 25 runs! what a comeback!
# After 19 Overs, RR are 136/4, and they need 34 runs to win from the last over!
# 17.6 Overs: OUT! What an over by Prasidh Krishna! Binny c Chris Lynn b Prasidh 0(3) RR 130/4
# 16.5 Overs: OUT! Samson departs, big big blow! RR 126/3
# Sanju Samson completes his half-century!
# 16.2 Overs: FOUR! Cracking shot by Samson. RR 124/2
# Piyush Chawla to bowl his last over
# After 16 Overs, RR are 119/2
# 15.5 Overs: FOUR! Klassen Reverse swept it away. RR 118/2
# After 15 Overs, RR are 111/2
# 14.1 Overs: OUT! Big wicket, Kuldeep strikes! Rahane c and b Kuldeep Yadav 46(41) RR 109/1
# Strategic time out ends!
# KKR desperately need a couple of wickets here.
# After 14 Overs, RR are 109/1
# 13.5 Overs: SIX! Samson dispatched the short ball by Narine! RR 109/1
# After 13 Overs, RR are 103/1
# After 12 Overs, RR are 96/1
# 9.4 Overs: FOUR! Poor bowling by Searles. RR 86/1
# 9.2 Overs: SIX! Easy from Samson. RR 81/1
# 8.6 Overs: FOUR! Inside out goes Samson. RR 74/1
# 8.1 Overs: FOUR! Short and slapped away by Samson. RR 68/1
# After 8 Overs, RR are 64/1
# After 7 Overs, RR are 54/1, excellent over by Kuldeep Yadav
# After 6 Overs, RR are 51/1
# 5.1 Overs: OUT! Chawla strikes, energetic catch! R Tripathi c and b Chawla 20(13) RR 47/1
# After 5 Overs, RR are 47/0
# 4.4 Overs: SIX! Againnnn...RR 46/0
# 4.3 Overs: SIX! Tripathi goes biiiigg!! RR 40/0
# After 4 Overs, RR are 32/0
# RR are happy taking singles and twos.
# KKR need a wicket soon, or else Rahane, Tripathi will take this away from them!
# 3.2 Overs: FOUR! Sehwag-esque cut. RR 29/0
# 3.1 Overs: FOUR! Pulled away for a boundary. RR 25/0
# After 3 Overs, RR are 21/0
# 2.4 Overs: Successful review by Rahane and RR. He survives!
# 2.1 Overs: FOUR! Picture perfect cover drive by Tripathi. RR 19/0
# After 2 Overs, RR are 15/0
# 1.4 Overs: FOUR! Rahane special flick toward mid wicket. RR 15/0
# After 1 Over, RR are 9/0
# 0.4 Overs: SIX! Just lifted the slash! Excellent shot over the point boundary. RR 8/0
# Ajinkya Rahane and Rahul Tripathi start for RR.
# KKR came back into the game and mounted a good target of 170 runs for Rajasthan Royals
# 19.5 Overs: FOUR! Russell beautifully found the gap there! KKR 168/7
# 19.4 Overs: OUT! Searles tried to go big but mistimed it terribly. Searles c Jofra Archer b Laughlin 2(5) KKR 164/7
# 19.1 Overs: FOUR! Brutal power by Russell. KKR 163/6
# After 19 Overs, KKR are 157/6
# 18.4 Overs: SIX! Russell waited for the ball to come and hammered it away. KKR 156/6
# 17.6 Overs: SIX! Hooked away in style by Russell. KKR 149/6
# 17.2 Overs: SIX! Hammered away by Russell! KKR 141/6
# 17.1 Overs: OUT! Huge wicket before the final couple of overs. Karthik c Rahane b Laughlin 52(38) KKR 135/6
# After 17 Overs, KKR are 135/5
# 16.4 Overs: FOUR! Slapped away by Russell! KKR 133/5
# 16.3 Overs: SIX! Mistimed but the ball still crossed the boundary. KKR 129/5
# With that six DK completes his Fifty. A Captain's knock!
# 16.1 Overs: SIX! Edged and went straight at the sight screen behind the WK. KKR 122/5
# After 16 Overs, KKR are 116/5
# 14.5 Overs: SIX! Free hit dispatched perfectly by Russell! KKR 113/5
# 14.2 Overs: OUT! Edged and gone! Gill departs. Shubman Gill c Klaasen b Jofra Archer 28(17) KKR 106/5
# 14.1 Overs: FOUR! Gill is on fire! Slapped away. KKR 106/4
# 13.6 Overs: SIX! DK with a classic shot. Sends the ball straight to the cow corner. KKR 102/4
# 13.4 Overs: SIX! Gill dances down the pitch and times the shot perfectly. KKR 95/4
# 13.3 Overs: FOUR! Fantastic square cut by Gill. KKR 89/4
# After 13 Overs, KKR are 82/4
# 10.4 Overs: FOUR! Gill with a much needed boundary. KKR 70/4
# After 10 Overs, KKR are 63/4
# 9.1 Overs: FOUR! A lovely flick towards fine leg by DK. KKR 60/4
# After 9 Overs, KKR are 56/4, the pitch is very sticky and an absolute turner!
# 7.6 Overs: OUT! Biggest wicket of them all! Chris Lynn c and b Shreyas Gopal 18(22) KKR 51/4
# KKR are happy with the singles and twos..
# After 7 Overs, KKR are 48/3
# Great powerplay for Rajasthan Royals, apart from the final Unadkat over!
# After 6 Overs, KKR are 46/3
# 5.4 Overs: FOUR! Lynn joins the party, poor bowling by Unadkat. KKR 45/3
# 5.2 Overs: FOUR! Smashing shot from DK, Lovely drive. KKR 40/3
# 5.1 Overs: FOUR! Positive from DK, Kolkata needs positivity now! KKR 36/3
# After 5 Overs, KKR are 32/3
# 3.6 Overs: FOUR! Good start by DK. KKR needs stability now. KKR 28/3
# Dinesh Karthik is at the crease, and KKR needs a captain's knock from him. Can he be the saviour of the night?
# 3.4 Overs: OUT! Shambles, absolute shambles. Nitish Rana c Unadkat b Jofra Archer 3(5) KKR 24/3
# 2.5 Overs: FOUR! Smashed away by Lynn. KKR 22/2
# 2.1 Overs: OUT! Uthappa goes, its a huge moment for RR. Uthappa c and b Gowtham 3(7) KKR 17/2
# After 2 Overs, KKR are 17/1
# 0.6 Overs: FOUR! Byes! the ball misses the bat, batsman, stumps and the keeper. KKR 10/1
# 0.2 Overs: OUT! Hammer blow for KKR..Gowtham strikes! Narine st Klaasen b Gowtham 4(2) KKR 4/1
# 0.1 Overs: FOUR! KKR and Narine starts with a bang! KKR 4/0
# Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine, the dynamic pair opens for KKR!
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
# Rajasthan Royals have won the toss and have opted to field
Pitch report: "It is quite dry undernearth but it's got a good covering of grass. There seemed a bit of moisture from the covers. I reckon it will be a good batting surface and both teams will score a lot of runs," says Michael Clarke.
