In the IPL 2021 Eliminator, Kolkata Knight Riders beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by four wickets. The Knight Riders advanced into Qualifier 2 and will be facing Delhi Capitals on Wednesday at the same venue.
Royal Challengers Bangalore won the toss and chose to bat first. Kolkata Knight Riders couldn’t sustain the flow of wickets in the powerplay as the RCB openers scored boundaries frequently. After the pacers went for runs, the spinners took charge and picked crucial wickets in the middle overs. The KKR bowlers made a comeback in the first innings and restricted RCB to a reasonable total of 138. The two-time IPL champions had a decent start with the bat, as Shubman Gill took on the RCB bowlers in the powerplay. Venkatesh Iyer struggled to score runs as the pitch didn’t offer much pace. The opening partnership broke up in the sixth over after a 41-run stand. Rahul Tripathi (6) fell prey to Yuzvendra Chahal without contributing much with the bat. Iyer and Nitish Rana (23) had a steady partnership, the latter was playing some innovative shots against the spinners. Iyer’s dreary knock of 26 which was less than a ball came to an end in the 11th over. Sunil Narine (22) was the number five batsman, the all-rounder swung from the first ball itself. Narine smashed three sixes in the first three balls he faced against Daniel Christian. After the 22-run over, the game was in KKR’s grasp as their run rate came under six runs per over. The well-set Rana was also caught in the 15th over while going for a slog at long-on. Kolkata’s former captain Dinesh Karthik walked out to bat at number six. Narine and Karthik were dismissed in the same over by Mohammed Siraj. Eoine Morgan (6) and Shakib Al Hasan (9) were the new batsmen at the crease. Kolkata needed 12 off 12, which increased the intensity of the game which was slipping away from Bangalore. With seven needed off six, Hasan scooped the slower one over the short fine leg, the rest was done through singles.
Virat Kohli (39) and Devdutt Padikkal (21) were the highest contributors with the bat for RCB. The openers provided a solid start but the team couldn’t maintain the momentum throughout the innings.
For KKR, Narine was the pick among the bowlers as he pocketed four wickets, while Lockie Ferguson had two wickets to his name. Patel and Chahal had two wickets each. Siraj also grabbed two wickets.
Following this defeat, RCB’s IPL 2021 campaign has come to an end, KKR will face DC in Qualifier 2.
Scorecard:
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 138/7, Overs 20, Virat Kohli (39), Devdutt Padikkal (21), Sunil Narine (4/21)
Kolkata Knight Riders: 139/6, Overs 19.4, Shubman Gill (29), Venkatesh Iyer (26), Harshal Patel (2/19)