Kolkata Knight Riders edged out the Delhi Capitals by 3 wickets in a closely fought contest in Qualifier 2 in IPL 2021 in Sharjah, winning it with a six and a ball to go in the final over bowled by Ashwin. Tripathi smashed the six and was unbeaten on 12.
Four of KKR's batters scored ducks with Venkatesh Iyer and Shubman Gill playing a crucial role in the win, putting on a 96-run opening stand.
KKR will now play Chennai Super Kings in the final on 15 October.
Kolkata Knight Riders captain Eoin Morgan won the toss and opted to bowl first in Sharjah against Delhi Capitals. KKR are unchanged from the Eliminator while DC brought in Marcus Stoinis for Tom Curran.
KKR started off with Shakib Al Hasan, keen to not give Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan pace to work with, and he conceded only 1. Lockie Ferguson gave Shaw a juicy half volley to drive after that which the batter pounced on before the Kiwi wrapped up the over giving only another single more.
Shaw then hammered Shakib for a 6 and 4 in a 12-run over which also saw Dhawan get off the mark on his 8th delivery. Dhawan then followed that up with a couple of sixes of Sunil Narine to make it 32/0 after 4 overs.
In the fifth over, Varun Chakravarthy struck off the first delivery, trapping Shaw LBW for 18. Marcus Stoinis joined Dhawan and managed to add 2 runs to the cause in the over. Ferguson finished the powerplay with a 4 run over.
Stoinis smashed a boundary through extra cover in the next over off Shakib as DC picked up 11 runs from it. Shakib also had a stumping chance go begging as Dinesh Karthik couldn't gather and end Dhawan's innings.
Young Shivam Mavi was brought into the attack after that and he rattled off another economical over, giving away only 3 singles as DC moved to 52/1. Narine too returned with a 3-run over as DC found it tough to keep the momentum going.
Dhawan picked off a boundary off Chakaravarthy's next over, making it a 10-run over as DC moved to 65/1 at the halfway stage.
Narine then completed a five-run over, continuing to build pressure but unable to get the breakthrough yet.
However, with pressure building, Stoinis (18) made room and looked to attack Shivam Mavi, and got the edge and hit the stumps in the 12th over. The young pacer kept Shreyas Iyer from getting away for the rest of the over, completing a 3-run over with a wicket.
Shakib finished his spell (0/28) right after with a 4-run over that kept the pressure on DC. Mavi then kept out of the slot in his 3rd over and the 14th of the innings, conceding 6 runs to Iyer and Dhawan.
In the 15th over, Dhawan danced down the track to Chakaravarthy as he tried to reach the pitch of the delivery and go for a big hit. However, he only managed an edge as Shakib completed a brilliant catch at short third man, dismissing Dhawan for 36. Rishabh Pant then got lucky with a boundary as Mavi let it go under him as DC picked 7 runs from the over, moving to 90/3 with 5 overs to go.
Rishabh Pant dismissed by Lockie Ferguson.
Image: BCCI
Off the 16th, Ferguson came back into the attack for KKR and Pant danced down the track looking to go over the infield. However, he mishit it Rahul Tripathi took the catch at mid-off, dismissing Pant for 6 in an over that saw only 2 runs scored.
In the 17th, Chakaravarthy’s final over, he first dismissed Shimron Hetmyer for 3 after Shubman Gill dived forward to catch it at long on before the replays showed he had barely overstepped. Hetmyer, who had left the field, came back, and off the next ball Iyer was caught at point but got a life as it was a free hit. Thankfully for KKR it was only a 7-run over as DC had 3 more overs to bat with the score at 99/4. Chakaravarthy finished with 2/26.
The 18th saw Hetmyer make use of that luck as he clattered Ferguson for a couple of sixes in a 15-run over, before he luck ran out and he was run-out for 17 in the penultimate over. With six deliveries to go, DC had managed 120/5.
Well set, Iyer took charge in the final over hammering a boundary and running hard between the wickets before finishing it off with a monster 6. DC posted 135/5 in difficult batting conditions.
In response, KKR looked to attach from the get-go with Shubman Gill creaming the first delivery, a half-volley, through the covers to welcome Anrich Nortje into the attack, picking 6 off the first.
DC brought in R Ashwin into the attack at the other end and Venkatesh Iyer managed to sweep him away for 4 in a 9-run over. Both Gill and Iyer were more than happy to run hard in what were difficult conditions.
Rishabh Pant turned to Avesh Khan, who turned in a 6-run over with two dots as the openers kept chipping away.
Axar Patel was lofted out of the ground for a six and so was Kagiso Rabada, both in their first overs, with the South African also dropping a caught and bowled, all against Iyer. While the Axar over produced 9 runs, Rabada gave away 12 including a couple of wides.
With dew taking effect on playing conditions, KKR’s batters were able to time it better, with Iyer showing an example in the sixth over with a wristy flick through the legside for a boundary against Avesh. KKR scored 9 off the over and took the score to 51/0 after 6.
Venkatesh Iyer on the attack
Image: BCCI
Ashwin came back to bowl the next and conceded 5 runs, with the openers stealing a quick second off the last delivery. Pant brought Rabada back into the attack at the other end for another 5-run over as KKR continued to motor along comfortably with the openers looking solid. Ashwin's third over gave KKR 6 more as they moved to 67/0 after 9.
Axar came into the attack and was welcomed with a six over midwicket by Iyer, as the openers took KKR to 76/0 after 10 overs. KKR, two-time champions, were looking set for another final, their first since 2014.
Desperately in need of a wicket, Pant turned to Nortje and he was sliced away for a boundary by Iyer. Nortje conceded 5 wides after that, down the leg side in a 12-run over with Iyer approaching his fifty. A rattled Pant, called in the team in a huddle and delivered a pep talk in between overs.
Axar completed a tight four run over right after as Iyer completed his half-century and KKR moved to 92/0 in 12 overs.
Rabada came right back for the next over and Iyer streakily got four through the vacant slip cordon before being caught at deep square leg for 55. The South African kept it tight after breaking the 96-run opening stand and conceded just 2 more after that as KKR moved to win 38 runs of the finish line.
Shubman Gill was joined by Nitish Rana and the duo kept chipping away with the left hander slamming Axar back over his head for a six, the fourth in the innings for KKR, in a big 10-run over. KKR moved on to 108/1.
Gill and Rana picked off 5 more from Avesh's next over after which Gill smashed Nortje over long-on for a 6 off a short delivery as KKR motored along. Nortje however ended the over with Rana's wicket for 13, caught at square leg off a quick short delivery. KKR at the time needed 13 more.
Off the next over, Gill was dismissed for 46 caught behind by Pant off Avesh Khan with Dinesh Karthik walking in to join Rahul Tripathi.
DC continued to chip away and Rabada struck, cleaning by Dinesh Karthik in the 18th over. KKR needed 10 from the final 2 overs.
In the penultimate over, KKR scored 3 more before captain Eoin Morgan was dismissed for 0 off 3 deliveries by Nortje.
Ashwin picked the wickets of Shakib and Narine off consecutive deliveries in the final over before Tripathi finished it off with a six with one ball to go.
KKR will now play CSK in the final on 15 October.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)