Image Credit: BCCI/IPL
Kolkota Knight Riders put up a spirited clash against Delhi Capitals in the second qualifier round at Sharjah Stadium on Wednesday, which saw KKR overcome a dramatic collapse in their batting order to beat their rivals by three wickets. KKR will now enter their first finals round since 2014 against the Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings.
Though KKR only had a low score of 136 to chase, things took a turn for the worse as their openers Shubman Gill and Iyer were dismissed after a solid start. Iyer managed to knock 55 runs in 41 balls before Capital's Kagiso Tabada managed to bowl him out.
It was then that KKR looked to be on the verge of utter defeat as wicket after wicket fell with not much runs on the board, to end at 130/7. Rahul Tripathi saved the day for KKR as he hit a solid six to complete the victory with 6 runs required off two balls.
Earlier, the KKR team had done well to strangle the Capitals batsmen to 135/5 after 20 overs. Though Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan gave them a good start with 32/0 partnership after 4 overs, it did not last as Prithvi fell to Varun, followed by Stainis (18) and Dhawan (36). Kolkota's restrictive hard-line bowling reduced chances of runs and excellent fielding prevented DC from scoring much higher.
KKR will now play off against CSK at the finals which will be held at Dubai International Stadium on Friday.