Kolkata Knight Riders assured their place in the playoffs after a resounding win against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in match number 54 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018. In pursuit of 173 runs, the Knights chased down the target in 19.4 overs with skipper Dinesh Karthik hitting the winning runs. KKR, who needed a win or have a better net run-rate than Rajasthan Royals, did the job with utmost perfection.
Kolkata Knight Riders are assured of the third place with a net run-rate of -0.070 and 16 points in their bag. They could still finish second if Kings XI Punjab inflict a heavy loss on Chennai Super Kings in a blockbuster Sunday in IPL 11. The eastern giants notched their third successive win and will now await on who will join them in Qualifier 2 between Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians.
SunRisers Hyderabad were on the front foot when Kane Williamson and Shikhar Dhawan were at the crease, but after the former’s dismissal, KKR hit back to restrict the table-toppers to 172 runs. Chris Lynn (55) and Robin Uthappa (45) ensured that the two-time champions kept their quest for the third title on course.
Here is the match in numbers.
- This was KKR’s ninth win against SRH in 14 meetings between the two sides.
- This was SRH’s 2nd loss of the campaign at home in IPL 2018.
- This was KKR’s third win in Hyderabad out of five meetings against SRH.
- KKR hit 8 sixes in the match and now they have a total of 115 and are the 2nd highest in terms of hitting sixes.
- KKR became the third team to qualify for the play-offs after SRH and CSK.
- SRH skipper Kane Williamson is the current Orange Cap holder with 662 runs.
- This was Shikhar Dhawan’s 4th half-century in IPL 2018.
- Sunil Narine reached 16 wickets this season and that is the highest for a KKR bowler.
- Siddarth Kaul (2/26) reached 17 wickets this season and that is the highest for a SRH bowler.
- Chris Lynn became the 2nd KKR player to go past 400+ runs in IPL 2018.
Scenario for Sunday (MI, RR and KXIP)
- MI will qualify for the play-offs if they just win against DD.
- That will end the hopes for RR and KXIP even if the latter beat CSK.
- For KXIP to qualify, MI need to lose against DD and they also have to beat CSK by 53+ runs or chase the target in 13.4 overs.
- For Rajasthan Royals, the math is simple. MI need to lose against DD and KXIP should not overtake their Net RR.
KKR top order do the job
KKR smashed 66 runs in the power-play overs and lost just the wicket of Sunil Narine (29). The West Indian smashed a 10-ball 29 to give KKR the impetus and the platform. He took on pacer Sandeep Sharma in the second over which saw him collect 20 off the over to ease the pressure from an in-form Chris Lynn.
Narine’s early assault was then carried on by Chris Lynn, who hit a positive 55 runs, smashing fours fours and three sixes. He added a 52-run opening stand with Narine before putting another 67 runs with Robin Uthappa. This took the game away for SRH. Uthappa too got into the act and hit a well made 45 runs. His stay in the middle and negotiating the SRH bowlers in the middle overs helped KKR gain authority.
Narine, Prasidh tie down SRH
At one moment it looked like SRH would go past 200 runs with Kane and Dhawan in top gear. When Williamson fell, SRH were 127/2 in 12.5 overs. But in came Prasidh and Narine, who changed the course of the game. Prasidh got the dangerous Dhawan and KKR made the inroads.
The young pacer took four wickets for just 30 runs in four overs. He got the key scalps of Manish Pandey and Shakib Al Hasan next to hurt the hosts. Narine needs to be credited also for tying down SRH with figures of 1/26 from four overs. SRH lost seven wickets for just 45 runs as KKR bowlers took control. SRHÂ managed just 80 in the last ten overs.
Dhawan, Kane in top gear