IPL 2018 Report Card: SRH's Rashid Khan scores full marks thanks to all-round display; KKR's Andre Russell disappoints

The last time Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad met at the Eden Gardens was in the first leg of their league stage. The visitors had prevailed then winning the match by five wickets after restricting Kolkata to a paltry total of 138/8. It was no different on Friday as the visiting team maintained their dominion over the hosts, to win the Qualifier and make it to final.

Rashid Khan celebrates a wicket with Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Kane Willianson. AFP

Toss has been a very crucial factor this IPL season and Knight Riders skipper Dinesh Karthik chose to bowl first after calling it right. The Kolkata bowlers dominated the Sunrisers batsmen for the major part of the innings until they were taken by surprise towards the end by Rashid Khan. He smashed 34 runs off just 10 deliveries and thus propelled Sunrisers’ score to a competitive 174/7.

Kolkata in reply began in their own belligerent manner with Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine. The first wicket fell after the hosts had raced away to a score of 40 in just 3.2 overs. A slower ball from Siddharth Kaul accounted for Narine who scored 26 runs off just 13 deliveries. Lynn continued destruction at the other end and wickets kept tumbling at the other.

It became clear where the match was finally heading towards when Lynn was dismissed by Rashid Khan again. Shubman Gill tried his best towards the end but couldn't get his team over the line as Kolkata were restricted to 160/9.

Let's now have a look at how all the players performed in the match and rate them on a scale of 1-10:

Rashid Khan - 10/10

Everyone knows that Rashid Khan is a terrific bowler. However, his all round skills came to the fore on Friday as he single-handedly destroyed the Knight Riders with his blazing cameo of 34-run knock from just 10 balls, and then a sensational spell of 3/19 with the ball. He had walked out to bat in the 18th over with the scoreboard reading 134/6 and Hyderabad probably targeting a total of somewhere around 150 or 160. But Rashid changed the complexion of the match as he smacked two fours and four huge sixes in his innings. Later, he claimed the wickets of Robin Uthappa, Chris Lynn and Andre Russell to lead the charge with the ball and break home team’s backbone. He was deservedly adjudged the ‘Man of the Match’.

Kuldeep Yadav - 9/10

Kuldeep had given Kolkata the early edge in the match, dismissing both Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson in the same over. He also involved in a superb run out to send Shakib Al Hasan back to the dugout. He finished with superb bowling figures of 4-0-29-2, but the effort unfortunately ended in a losing clause.

Shakib Al Hasan - 8/10

Shakib first scored 28 runs off just 24 deliveries and then returned with the ball to claim bowling figures of 1/16 in three overs. His valuable runs came at a time when the Sunrisers were lacking momentum in the match and his bowling complemented the likes of Rashid. The wicket of Karthik that he claimed was probably one of the deciding factors of this match.

Sunil Narine - 8/10

Narine bowled very economically, conceding just 24 runs in his four overs and also accounted for the wicket of Deepak Hooda. Moreover, he smashed 26 runs off just 12 deliveries at the top of the order in order to give Kolkata the start they needed.

Wriddhiman Saha - 7/10

Saha returned to the playing XI on Friday at the expense of Shreevats Goswami. He played well for his 35 runs off just 27 deliveries and didn't look like in any sort of trouble at all. He continued scoring runs at a steady rate even after the stalwarts of Sunrisers batting line up Dhawan and Williamson departed. He was finally stumped in the 11th over off Piyush Chawla’s bowling.

Shikhar Dhawan - 7/10

Dhawan has provided the Sunrisers with brisk starts with the bat more often than not. It was no different in this match as he got them off with an innings of 34 runs from just 24 deliveries. He was finally out trapped in front of the stumps by Kuldeep in the eighth over of their innings.

Carlos Brathwaite - 7/10

Brathwaite was summoned to bowl the final over of the match with Kolkata still needing 19 runs for victory. The first ball that he bowled went for four off Shivam Mavi’s willow. However, the next two deliveries accounted for the wickets of Gill and Mavi. He conceded just four runs in that crucial final over and picked up two wickets. He ended up with bowling figures of 2-0-15-2 and had also scored eight runs off just four deliveries towards the fag end of their innings.

Siddharth Kaul - 7/10

Kaul bowled beautifully in this match as he returned with bowling figures of 4-0-32-2. First, he dismissed Narine when he was going all guns blazing and then came back at the death to clean up Chawla, who was looking dangerous having already hit a big one over the boundary.

Chris Lynn - 7/10

Lynn was looking dangerous while he was batting and threatening enough to take the match away from the Sunrisers. He hit six fours and two sixes in his innings of 48 runs off 31 balls and was finally dismissed lbw by Rashid, trying to play a sweep behind the square region on the leg-side.

Shubman Gill - 6/10

Gill showed his talent once again in the match. Having walked out to bat at No 6, Gill scored 30 runs off just 20 balls to keep his team in the hunt even though wickets kept falling at regular intervals. His dismissal in the last over of the match was the crucial as he could have won it for his team if he would have been there till the end.

Piyush Chawla - 6/10

Chawla bowled pretty decently conceding just 22 runs in his three overs at an economy of just over seven and also claimed the wicket of Saha. Moreover, he gave Kolkata fans a glimmer of hope when he smashed a huge six off Khaleel Ahmed, but was dismissed soon after, scoring just 12 runs off 12 deliveries.

Nitish Rana - 5/10

Rana and Lynn were batting well together, scoring runs at a steady rate. He was finding the gaps easily just like Lynn and it looked as if they will take Kolkata over the line. However, Rana was run out trying to take two and had to go back to the pavilion after making 22 runs.

Shivam Mavi - 5/10

Mavi was given an opportunity once again on Friday in order to bolster their pace attack. He conceded 33 runs in his four overs at an economy of over eight and also picked up the wicket of Yusuf Pathan in the death overs.

Deepak Hooda - 4/10

Hooda didn't do anything special and scored just 19 runs at a run-a-ball when Sunrisers probably needed more than that. It was Narine who accounted for his wicket in the 17th over of their innings.

Dinesh Karthik - 3/10

Karthik was very good with his glove work on Friday as he effected one stumping and grabbed a terrific catch off Kuldeep’s bowling . However, it was with the bat that he failed, scoring just eight and thus helping opposition get back into the match.

Kane Williamson - 3/10

Williamson couldn't contribute much with the bat as he was dismissed for just three runs thanks to a brilliant piece of bowling by Kuldeep in the same over that Dhawan departed. Sunrisers were left in a tricky situation as they went from 56/0 to 60/2 in no time. However, he marshaled his troops well and led them to the final of the tournament.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar - 2/10

Bhuvneshwar hasn't been in the best of forms this IPL. And that was proved on Friday as he returned with bowling figures of 4-0-38-0. He was totally hammered by Narine initially but came back well in the final overs. He had made a small contribution of five runs the end of the Sunrisers innings.

Yusuf Pathan - 1/10

Pathan walked out to bat towards the end and wasted seven deliveries to score just three runs. He was the seventh wicket to fall as Mavi brought an end to his innings in the 19th over.

Prasidh Krishna - 1/10

Krishna has been Kolkata's lead pace bowler for the past few matches. But he was totally taken to the cleaners on Friday as he leaked 56 runs in four overs to turn the tide of the match completely towards the Sunrisers way.

Andre Russell - 1/10

Russell bowled just one over in the match and conceded nine runs. However, he showed complete immaturity trying to attack Rashid when the field was set up for that kind of shot. He departed after scoring just three.

Khaleel Ahmed - 1/10

Khaleel Ahmed looked totally out of sorts with the ball. He tried to use his variations and change of pace but he turned out to be ineffective as he conceded massive 38 runs in his three overs.

Robin Uthappa - 1/10

Uthappa continued his terrible run of form with the bat as he was bowled trying to reverse sweep Rashid. He had to depart for just two runs after struggling for eight deliveries and that changed the momentum of the match.

Rating chart: 10-9: Excellent, 8-7: Good, 6-5: Average, 4-3: Poor, 2-1: Very poor