Over 20: Prasidh Krishna to Gowtham, a big swing and a miss, DOT ball. Two runs taken off the 2nd ball. DOT ball. A single taken. Top edge went for four as RR knocked out of IPL 2018.
Rajsthan Royals' batsman Sanju Samson plays a shot as KKR's captain wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik looks on during the 2nd qualifier IPL eliminator cricket match between KKR and Rajasthan Royals at Eden Garden in Kolkata. Photo: PTI
Rajasthan Royals innings analysis after 20 overs
Ajinkya Rahane and Rahul Tripathi opened the innings for RR while Andre Russell bowled the first over. Rahane got lucky on the very first ball of the innings when he got a leading edge on the ball which landed in the no-man's land. A couple of dot balls and Rahane hit a maximum in the deep backward point region using the pace of the ball. Prasidh Krishna bowled the second over and conceded 6 runs in it. Piyush Chawla was introduced into the attack and Tripathi thanked him with a cover drive boundary. Only two runs came off the next five balls of the over. RR were off to a decent start with 21/0 after 3 overs
Prasidh Krishna continued from the other end after bowling a tidy first over and Rahane welcomed him with consecutive boundaries taking good advantage of the field restrictions. Krishna conceded 11 runs in his over. KKR was in a desperate need of wickets and therefore, Sunil Narine was introduced into the attack. But the strategy didn't seem to work as Tripathi went hard on him and wacked him away for consecutive sixes. Narine leaked 15 runs. Chawla returned and got the necessary breakthrough for KKR. Another soft dismissal, courtesy of another caught and bowled. Sanju Samson was the next man on the crease. Both the batsmen kept rotating the strike. RR were scoring as per the required run rate and stood at 51/1 after 6 overs.
Kuldeep Yadav was brought into the attack. Just three runs came off the over. Narine came into bowl again and the pitch offered every bit of help to him with tremendous amounts of turn. Batsmen took no chances and kept the scoreboard kept ticking with singles and doubles. Yadav continued and went too short, Samson punished him for the loose ball with a four. A couple of dot balls and Samson found the gap in the covers region to score another boundary of the over. RR had just kept the asking rate in check and stood at 74/1 after 9 overs.
Javon Searles was introduced into the attack for the first time in the 10th over and Sanju Samson showed his class with a six and a four. Searles conceded 13 runs. RR were comfortably approaching the target without taking too many risks. Kuldeep Yadav was brought back. KKR needed a wicket to stay alive in the game. Yadav bowled a tight over leaking just 3 runs in it. Piyush Chawla returned. RR batsmen were in control and kept rotating the strike. RR stood at 96/1 after 12 overs.
Russell returned for the first time after bowling the first over of the innings. The 50 partnership came up between Samson and Rahane. A solid partnership for RR to build on even if one of them got out. RR were at the perfect spot to change their gears and seal the match. Karthik brought Sunil Narine into the attack. Asking run rate had crossed the 10 run mark and it was the high time that RR increased their scoring rate, but Samson was struggling against Narine and played 4 consecutive dot balls. Pressure was building and Samson eased it off a bit by hitting a six. Kuldeep Yadav bowled the 15th over and Rahane fell victim to and unlucky dismissal while attempting a sweep shot. A leading edge yet another caught and bowled. Heinrich Klaasen was the new man in. Yadav ended a successful over conceding just 2 runs in it. Narine came in for his last of the match. Asking rate had climbed past 12 rpo and RR was in desperate need of some big runs. Samson continued with singles while Klaasen went in for a reverse sweep boundary towards third man. RR stood at 119/2 after 16 overs and needed 51 runs off the last 24 balls.
Karthik looked to exhaust his spin resources in the 17th over itself as Piyush Chawla came in to bowl his last over. Chawla bowled a quick full toss outside-off and Samson did no mistakes in sending it across the fence. But the pressure was building and he went for another big shot which went high up in the sky and landed in the safe hands of Javon Searles. Stuart Binny was the new man in. Chawla finished his job with a wicket-taking over. Prasidh Krishna was brought back into the attack in the 18th over. RR were in a similar position as that of the CSK in the first qualifier and needed 43 runs off the last 18 balls, but they had no set batsmen like Du Plessis on the crease. Prasidh bowled a beautiful over and ended it with Stuart Binny's dismissal. Only 3 runs and a wicket came off the 18th over. Krishna Gowtham was the new man on the crease. RR needed 40 runs in 12 balls. Russell bowled the 19th over. Both Klaasen and Gowtham were getting no timing on the ball and no big runs came in the over. RR had an almost impossible task to score 34 runs in the last over. The match had become one-sided in the last 3 overs. Prasidh bowled yet another wonderful over and RR fell 25 runs short of the target. KKR won the match and kept their title hopes alive. Up until the 10th over RR were right in line with the asking rate and were moving quite comfortably but went too slow in the middle overs due to which the required run rate became almost insurmountable in the death overs. RR made it impossible for themselves to chase the target by not taking the charge when they were in a position to do so.
Kolkata Knight Riders innings update: Over by over Kolkata Knight Riders playing 11 for today's Eliminator: Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa, Dinesh Karthik(w/c), Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Shubman Gill, Javon Searles, Piyush Chawla, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav
Over 1: Krishnappa Gowtham to Sunil Narine, smashed in the cover region for four. Narine OUT stumped by Klassen. A single taken by Robin Uthappa. Short leg in for Chris Lynn and outside edge fell short of cover fielder. Miss field by bowler, one run taken. Reverse sweep attempted by Robin, missed and went for 4 byes. KKR: 10/1, Sunil Narine st Klaasen b Gowtham 4 (2b 1x4 0x6)
 "IPL 2018 Eliminator: KKR beat RR by 25 runs, to play SRH for finals berth")
