KKR have set the finals date with CSK after coming triumphant in Wednesday’s Qualifier 2 of the Indian Premier League 2021, where they defeated Delhi Capitals by three wickets and one ball to spare at Sharjah.
Venkatesh Iyer was the star for KKR with his magnificent fifty on a treacherous track as they huffed and puffed their way to 136-run target. Earlier, the Kolkata bowlers did an outstanding job to restrict DC to 135/5 in 20 overs, with none of the bowlers conceding at over 7 rpo.
Eoin Morgan won the important toss and decided to bowl first. The Capitals openers got them off to a good start with 32 runs on the board in four overs. Morgan brought Varun Chakravarthy into the attack and he provided the breakthrough straightaway.
Shaw, who was looking dangerous on 18 off 11, didn’t pick the googly and was plumb LBW. Ricky Ponting sent Marcus Stoinis in at number 3, but he struggled throughout the innings. His knock of 18 off 23 came to an end when he was cleaned up by Shivam Mavi, trying a massive hoick.
DC’s top run-getter of the ongoing tournament Shikhar Dhawan also had a tough time out in the middle. Scoring 36 off 39, he was dismissed in the 15th over as Varun’s delivery took an outside edge and popped it to backward point. Captain Rishabh Pant could get the team out of the hole as he holed out to mid-off by Lockie Ferguson’s back of a length outside off delivery.
DC were 90/4 in 15.2 overs and in a desperate need of runs. Shimron Hetmyer came to the rescue yet again and smashed a couple of sixes in his 10-ball-17 cameo before he was run out. Shreyas Iyer, who also struggled to get going, struck a couple of boundaries in the last over to take DC to a decent total. He remained unbeaten on 30 off 27. For KKR, Chakravarthy picked 2 for 26 while Ferguson returned with 1 for 26.
Chasing a tricky target, the Knight Riders needed to make the most of powerplay restrictions and they did just that. Shubman Gill and Venkatesh Iyer scored 51 runs in six overs.
The latter scored an outstanding knock of 55 off 41 deliveries before he was dismissed by Kagiso Rabada to break the 96-run opening stand. Nitish Rana (13 off 12) couldn’t handle the short delivery by Anrich Nortje and holed out to long leg on the last ball of the 16th over.
KKR needed 13 off 24 balls but the drama was about to begin. Gill, who scored run-a-ball 46, was caught behind off Avesh Khan in the next over. Dinesh Karthik and Morgan, took three deliveries each and were dismissed on duck by Rabada and Nortje, respectively. They managed only 6 runs from 18 balls as the equation came down to 7 required off the last over.
Rahul Tripathi missed out on the rank half-tracker from Ravichandran Ashwin and got a single off the first ball. Shakib Al Hasan tried to scoop after a dot ball only to get trapped LBW. Sunil Narine – the hero of the last game – danced down the track but couldn’t connect it properly as he was caught at long off. SIX required off two balls.
Thankfully for KKR, Tripathi had crossed to the hatter’s end. Ashwin bowled a similar half-tracker he did at the beginning of the over, but this Tripathi waited on it and hammered it over long-off for a six as the Knight Riders camp erupted in joy.
Brief Scores
Delhi Capitals – 135/5 in 20 overs (Dhawan 36, Iyer 30*; Chakravarthy 2/26, Ferguson 1/26)
Kolkata Knight Riders – 136/7 in 19.5 overs (Iyer 55, Gill 46; Rabada 2/23, Ashwin 2/27) won by 3 wickets.
