That is wrap from us here. In the end KKR did it very easily to book a place in Qualifier 2. Rajasthan Royals had a decent campaign finishing off at 4th place. The rains stayed allowed and gave us a full game. Hopefully it remains the same two days later as Kolkata Knight Riders will be taking on against Sunrisers Hyderabad. We will see you on Friday, until then adios.
Highlights, IPL 2018, KKR vs RR, Eliminator at Eden Gardens, Full Cricket Score: Kolkata win by 25 runs, advance to 2nd qualifier
Kolkata Knight Riders are through to the second qualifier. They win the match by 25 runs and will meet Sunrisers Hyderabad two days later. Rajasthan Royals' season comes to an end.
- FirstCricket Staff
- May 23rd, 2018
- 23:06:03 IST
Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Rajasthan Royals At Eden Gardens, Kolkata, 23 May, 2018
23 May, 2018
Starts (IST)
Match Ended
Kolkata Knight Riders beat Rajasthan Royals by 25 runs
Andre Russell, Man of the Match: So feel good to contribute It has been a hectic road. Every game is like a final. Yeah, I think it just clear head. If you get short, wide ball, slower ball. All about being balance. Have a still base, and make sure you get bat to ball. Once I connect, I know it'll be either a four or a six. I swing very hard and believe in my abilities. Slower ball deceived me a bit, as I said it is all but the swing. It's good to take responsibility with the ball as well. Especially, as a senior player. Just goes to show you're improving.
Dinesh Karthik, Kolkata Knight Riders captain: Winning four matches is special. We were under the pump. To come back from there was special. Credit to Shubman Gill. He played some lovely shots and eased the pressure of me. To absorb the pressure and play fantastic shots was brilliant. In these kind of crunch games, it's not about the par score. It's about how much you believe. We fielded well today which was very good to see.
That will be it from the Eden Gardens then. It was a pleasant evening to watch cricket and bring the action live to you; a welcome relief from the humidity of Mumbai. We’ll be back again day after tomorrow. Till then, stay tuned to Firstpost. Good night!
Shantanu Srivastava, Firstpost correspondent at Eden Gardens
22:49 (IST)
That will be it from the Eden Gardens then. It was a pleasant evening to watch cricket and bring the action live to you; a welcome relief from the humidity of Mumbai. We’ll be back again day after tomorrow. Till then, stay tuned to Firstpost. Good night!
Shantanu Srivastava, Firstpost correspondent at Eden Gardens
22:49 (IST)
Q-1: CSK needed 43 runs from the last 3 overs with 3 wickets in hand.
Result: CSK won by 2 wickets.
Eliminator: RR needed 43 runs from the last 3 overs with 7 wickets in hand.
Result: RR lost by 25 runs.
Difference: (The lack of) Experience
Umang Pabari, Cricket statistician
22:48 (IST)
Andre Russell is the Man of the Match
Ajinkya Rahane, Rajasthan Royals captain: Definately, really disappointed. The way we started with the ball, especially after that. Dropped catch of Russell hurt. But when you start your chase so well, you generally win the game, but KKR bowled really well. Definitely gettable. Me and Rahul than me and sanju got partnerships but we couldn't get it in the end. Credit to the KKR bowlers. When Sanju and me were batting we were looking to play positively. Overall, we played really good cricket. The bowling unit was fantastic with how the fast bowlers bowled and even the spinners. Batting needs to improve.
Q-1: CSK needed 43 runs from the last 3 overs with 3 wickets in hand.
Result: CSK won by 2 wickets.
Eliminator: RR needed 43 runs from the last 3 overs with 7 wickets in hand.
Result: RR lost by 25 runs.
Difference: (The lack of) Experience
Umang Pabari, Cricket statistician
22:42 (IST)
Special mention for the crowd here. I did call their presence underwhelming before the match began, but they did turn up in big numbers as the match progressed. An attendance of 56,000 in a 66,000-seater cauldron isn’t too bad I guess.
Shantanu Srivastava, Firstpost correspondent at Eden Gardens
22:41 (IST)
Highlights
IPL 2018 LIVE Cricket Score, KKR vs RR, Eliminator at Eden Gardens, latest update and cricket scores: Kolkata Knight Riders are through to the second qualifier. They win the match by 25 runs and will meet Sunrisers Hyderabad two days later. Rajasthan Royals' season comes to an end.
Preview: Resurgent Rajasthan Royals will look to defy odds and upset 'home favourites' Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Eliminator at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday.
KKR are the only team among the four knockout entrants to have got their matches in their own backyard. If they win the Eliminator, their Qualifier 2 will also be at the same venue on 25 May.
Besides having the home advantage, KKR will also start as favourites against depleted Royals who made the playoffs by the skin of their teeth.
Kolkata Knight Riders captain Dinesh Karthik and Rajasthan Royals captain Ajinkya Rahane. Sportzpics
Sans the services of in-form England wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler and fellow all-rounder Ben Stokes, Rajasthan got past Royal Challengers Bangalore in a must-win last league engagement to make it to the knockouts.
Chennai Super Kings' five-wicket victory over Kings XI Punjab sealed Royals' place in the playoffs while Mumbai Indians also lost to Delhi Daredevils. Both Punjab and Mumbai were in fray for the fourth playoff spot which went to Royals.
For KKR, a five-wicket triumph over Sunrisers Hyderabad ensured they finished third in the table.
KKR's main weapons has been Karthik and Sunil Narine alongwith sizable contributions from the wrist spinners Kuldeep Yadav, Piyush Chawla and dashing Australian opener Chris Lynn.
Underlining that his match-winning innings in the Nidahas Trophy final was no flash in the pan, Karthik has led from the front.
The 33-year old stumper-batsman has been a terrific finisher for the KKR this season. Of his 438 runs this season, 412 were made in 13 innings at No. 5 or lower; only Kieron Pollard's 419 in 17 innings in 2013 is higher.
Mystery spinner Narine has enhanced his credentials as an opener by becoming only the fourth player to score 300 plus runs and grab more than 15 wickets in an IPL season, after Shane Watson, Dwayne Bravo and Jacques Kallis.
Apart from the pair, Lynn has struck form at the right time after enduring a subdued season by his standards.
Andre Russell is always a threat with bat and ball and in M. Prasidh Krishna -- who returned career best figures of 4/30 against Hyderabad -- KKR have found a tall pacer who hits the deck hard and bowls good length stuff.
Royals will once again miss Buttler who is on national duty after getting a Test call-up. Buttler has been their batting mainstay piling up 548 runs in 13 matches at 54.80.
Big-hitting South African wicketkeeper batsman Heinrich Klaasen showed his class in the last game, his 32 off 21 studded with some stunning shots. The Karnataka pair of Gowtham and Gopal impressed too.
While Gowtham smacked 14 off five balls in the last over and conceded just six runs in two overs of offspin, besides also dismissing Virat Kohli for 4 in the third over, Gopal finished with career-best figures of 4 for 16.
Just over a week back, the two sides met at the same venue with KKR getting the better of Royals by six wickets.
The Eden pitch, this time, would not be prepared the way KKR want it to as the Eliminator won't be treated as a home game.
BCCI East Zone curator Ashish Bhowmick has been tasked to prepare the track and it is expected to have a fair bit of grass on it. Just two out of seven games -- vs RCB on 8 April and CSK on 3 May -- have been played on this pitch this IPL.
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.
RR: 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.
With inputs from IANS
Updated Date: May 23, 2018 23:06:03 IST
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