Kolkata Knight Riders knock Rajasthan Royals out of IPL, register a 25-run win

With 25-run win in the eliminator match, Kolkata are now set to play the second qualifer of the tournament against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

After scoring 169/7 in 20 overs, it was a decent bowling by Kolkata which brought the home team a step closer to their dream of lifting the IPL trophy for the third time.

Chasing a 170-run target, the visitors ended up at 144/4 in 20 overs.

The absence of two big players- Jos Butler and Ben Stokes- were not felt at least in the first six overs of the run chase as Rajasthan started off at a high run rate.

When Rajasthan lost their first wicket in the form of Rahul Tripathi (20 off 13), the visitors had already scored 47 in just 5.1 overs.

Piyush Chawla’s breakthrough in the sixth over didn’t give respite to Kolkata as skipper Ajinkya Rahane went along with Sanju Samson to put pressure back on the men-in-purple.

The two right-handed batsmen- Rahane and Samson- piled 62 runs for the second wicket.

Karthik tried to create pressure by placing a slip in the 11th over bowled by Kuldeep Yadav, but Rahane-Samson duo was looking ominous for the home team.

The breakthrough was finally provided by Kuldeep Yadav who caught and bowled Rajasthan skipper Rahane and sent him back to the dugout in the 15th over.

Rahane’s dismissal at 46 off 41 (four fours and one six) made the visitors nervous for the first time considering their weak middle order batting unit.

In a superb move, Karthik tried to choke new batsman Heinrich Klaasen by bringing straightaway Sunil Narine, who remained wicket-less in the match after conceding 39 in four overs, into attack.

The last nail in the coffin was the dismissal of Samson, who was caught by Javon Searles at the boundary line in a delivery bowled by Chawla (2/24 in four overs) in the 17th over.

Samson’s 50 off 38, which comprised four fours and two sixes, failed to keep Rajasthan alive in the IPL contest.

A combined batting effort by skipper Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell and Shubman Gill helped Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to set 170 as target for Rajasthan Royals.

On a day when Kolkata failed to get a start from Sunil Narine, who was bowled out in the second delivery of the innings after hitting a boundary, it was couple of partnerships in the middle overs which enabled the home team to pose a challenging total against Rajasthan.

In 3.4 overs, Kolkata was reduced to 24/3 when Karthik walked out to the crease and once again rescued his team from a possible batting collapse, which was witnessed against Mumbai Indians at the same venue.

Karthik, who reached 50 in 35 balls, formed two crucial partnerships- one with Shubman Gill (55 runs) and other with Andre Russell (29 runs)- to take his team to a safe position.

Though Gill was caught behind by Heinrich Klaasen in the delivery of Ben Laughlin (2/35) for 28 (17), Karthik kept his heads down and kept fighting with Windies all-rounder Russell.

When Karthik went out for 52 (38), an innings which was crafted with four fours and two sixes, it was Russell who shifted his batting to the fourth gear.

An unbeaten knock of 25-ball 50 helped the home team to race way to 169  .

Krishnappa Gowtham had the best bowling performance for Rajasthan. He picked two wickets for 15 in three overs.

The winner of the second qualifier, which will now be played between Kolkata and Sunrisers Hyderabad, will take on Chennai Super Kings in the final.