Rashid sinks KKR, SRH in final
Afghan star shines with bat and ball as Knight Riders fail to chase down 174, falling short by 14 runs
KOLKATA: In a league showcasing the world’s best T20 players, who would have thought an Afghan would stamp his influence on the second-most important match of IPL 2018?
Leg-spinner Rashid Khan is unlikely to forget this night at Eden after hauling Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to a 13-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and into Sunday’s final against Chennai Super Kings in Mumbai.
Khan made a 10-ball 34 that took SRH to 174/7, a score that looked unlikely when they were 124/5 after 17 overs. He then ran out Nitish Rana who, with Chris Lynn, was threatening to run away with this qualifier at the Eden Gardens on Friday.
The final flourish came with the ball, the world’s best T20 bowler’s spell reading 4-0-19-3. He dismissed Robin Uthappa, Chris Lynn and Andre Russell. With 19 needed in the last over and Shivam Mavi hitting the first ball for a four, Khan took catches in the deep to dismiss Mavi and Shubman Gill off successive Carlos Brathwaite deliveries.
Khan made the most of a dropped catch by Piyush Chawla when on four. Those 30 extra runs for Khan and 30 more for Wriddhiman Saha, who was let off on five when Dinesh Karthik couldn’t glove a skier, made KKR’S task hard.
This was the first time since against Mumbai Indians here that KKR had leaked 50 in the last three overs.
But the Knights seemed to have compensated for that with the biggest power play score SRH conceded. After 6 overs, they were 67/1 with Sunil Narine having again started in fifth gear. He took 19 off a Kumar over, picking the length early and creating a sequence of 4,6,4,4 off the first four balls. After Narine (26 - 13b, 4x4, 1x6) fell, Lynn and Rana added 47 for the second wicket. When Rana was run out going for a second run and slipping, KKR were still looking steady at 87/2 after 8.3 overs. But Uthappa fell to a reverse sweep. Karthik fell to an arm ball from Shakib Al Hasan. Then Lynn was trapped leg before by Khan after a measured 48 (31b - 6x4, 2x6) and Russell went in his next over --- Williams putting a short-leg but foxing the batsman with a googly with a slip in place – leaving only the last rites to be completed.