In the 54th game of IPL 2018, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) claimed an important victory by 5 wickets (with 2 balls to spare) against the hosts Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium (Uppal, Hyderabad) on Saturday night. SRH put a total of 172/9 in 20 overs which was successfully chased by KKR in 19.4 overs after losing 5 wickets. With this victory, KKR assures their spot for IPL 2018 playoffs.
SRH captain Kane Williamson decided to bat first after winning the toss. The top-order SRH batsmen provided the very good start. The openers Shikhar Dhawan and Shreevats Goswami provided a superb 79-run partnership for the first wicket. Goswami was dismissed on 35 runs while Dhawan continued his innings.
Then, Dhawan put another 48-run partnership with the skipper Kane Williamson for the second wicket. Williamson played a firing knock of 36 runs off just 17 balls before getting caught out, while Dhawan (50 runs off 39 balls) soon lost his wicket after completing his half-century.
While it was looking like that SRH would score a close of 200 runs, their middle-order batting collapse took them far away from their projected total. Only Manish Pandey showed some fight back in the end moment as he scored 25 runs off 22 balls and SRH finished on 172/9 in 20 overs.
Among the KKR bowlers, Prasidh Krishna claimed four wickets as his bowling figure was 4-0-30-4. Also, Andre Russell (1/31), Sunil Narine (1/23), Kuldeep Yadav (1/35) and Javon Searles (1/24) got one wicket each.
Chasing down that target, KKR openers Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine provided a superb attacking start as KKR scored 66/1 at the end of the powerplay. Narine once again provided a strong short knock as he scored 29 runs off just 10 balls. The openers put the 52-run partnership in just 3.4 overs.
After Narine’s dismissal, Lynn provided a stable 67-run partnership with Robin Uthappa. Lynn (55 runs off 43 balls) was dismissed after completing his half-century while Robin Uthappa (45 runs) missed his half-century by just 5 runs.
Later, skipper Dinesh Karthik played another responsible innings as he secured the victory after scoring an unbeaten 26 runs off 22 balls. KKR chased down that target in 19.4 overs after losing 5 wickets.
Among the SRH bowlers, Siddarth Kaul (2/26) and Carlos Brathwaite (2/21) picked up two wickets each while Shakib Al Hasan (1/30) claimed a wicket.
Here are some Twitter reactions:
Been awake 24hrs to see these smiles. Thx @DineshKarthik @prasidh43 (well done young man) @robbieuthappa ( v have to exercise 2gether) @lynny50 (wow mate) & @SunilPNarine74 is…Sunil. Very happy cant sleep now!! pic.twitter.com/gdJWwBOG2K
— Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) May 19, 2018
Not many gave @KKRiders a top 4 chance post the auction. Well, they’ve made it as team number 3.. Haven’t depended on one or two heroes through this campaign.. They’ve played like a team 👏🏻#SRHvKKR
— Jatin Sapru (@jatinsapru) May 19, 2018
Congratulations @KKRiders for making it to the play-offs. The bowlers pulled things back brilliantly after a good start for SRH and in the chase after a good start, DK’s calm presence made it an easy chase. #SRHvKKR
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) May 19, 2018
Well done @KKRiders into the play offs and they will play at home. Before the tournament many had questioned the team and must say @DineshKarthik has done a stellar job in holding it together. @VenkyMysore
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) May 19, 2018
Three former #IPL title winners SRH, CSK and KKR have now qualified to the playoffs in #IPL2018.
The fourth and final place to be decided by tomorrow among defending champion MI, inaugural winner RR and one time finalist KXIP.#SRHvKKR— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) May 19, 2018
Karthik-the new finisher in town. Lost count on how many occasions he’s stayed unbeaten in successful chases. Well played 😊👍👏 #IPL #KKR
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) May 19, 2018
8 wickets in 9 matches this season for Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He picked 49 wickets in the last two seasons…vice captain’s fitness and wicket-taking form a slight concern for #SRH. #IPL
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) May 19, 2018
Sunil Narine in KKR pic.twitter.com/IuDMyymMbL
— bk. (@CalIMeDon) May 15, 2018
Before IPL, Legend Aakash Chopra said:
"KKR's team have a lot of holes"
"KKR is the weakest team of this season"
"KKR won't qualify for playoff"And now @KKRiders is in the playoffs.
Lol @cricketaakash 😂😂#SRHvKKR— JUST A FAN. (@iamsrk_brk) May 19, 2018
Sunil Narine became the 4th player to score 300 plus runs and take 15 plus wickets in a single IPL season#SRHvKKR #IPL2018
— Circle of Cricket (@circleofcricket) May 19, 2018
Sunil Narine has scored more runs than Robin Uthappa this season! #IPL pic.twitter.com/kMFfe6ldi8
— Prasad Suroshe (@PrasadsCR7) May 19, 2018
Bowler, Batsman, watch out, one of these days, Sunil Narine will start taking catches too.#SRHvKKR
— Gaurav Sethi (@BoredCricket) May 19, 2018
https://twitter.com/fake_bumrah_/status/997880198308638720
Kolkata Knight Riders need to score 129 to keep their NRR ahead of Rajasthan Royals. They have to chase down 173 in 11.1 overs if they want to have a chance of finishing in top two. #IPL2018 #SRHvKKR
— Sampath Bandarupalli (@SampathStats) May 19, 2018
