Brathwaite’s Sunrisers into IPL final

Windies Twenty20 captain, Carlos Brathwaite, grabbed two wickets in the final over as his Sunrisers Hyderabad stunned Sunil Narine’s Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 14 runs to reach tomorrow’s final of the Indian Premier League.

Chasing a competitive but hardly imposing 175 for victory at Eden Gardens on Friday, KKR were coasting at 87 for nine in the ninth over before suffering a collapse to end on 160 for nine from their 20 overs.

Australian opener Chris Lynn top-scored with 48, while Shubman Gill got 30 and Narine, a cavalier 26.

Lynn put on 40 off 20 balls for the first wicket with Narine, who spanned four fours and a six in just 13 balls at the crease before miscuing a swing at seamer Siddarth Kaul and holing out to mid-on in the fourth over.

Lynn, who struck six fours and a pair of sixes in a measured 31-ball knock, added a further 47 for the second wicket with Nitish Rana (22) before six wickets tumbled for 58 runs to leave the innings in ruins.

Windies all-rounder Andre Russell was among the carnage, dismissed in the 15th over for three, caught at slip edging a cut at a Rashid Khan leg break.

KKR required 19 runs from the last over but Brathwaite claimed Shivam Mavi to the second ball, caught at deep mid-wicket for six before removing Gill off the very next delivery, in a carbon copy dismissal.

The two wickets dented KKR hopes of a dramatic win as the over leaked just four runs.

Brathwaite, in only his third match of the tournament, ended with two for 15 from his two overs.

The Barbadian had earlier failed with the bat as Sunrisers marched to 174 for seven, after being sent in.

He managed just eight but opener Wriddiman Saha top-scored with 35, while Shikhar Dhawan (34) and Rashid Khan (34 not out) both helped energise the innings.

Narine claimed one for 24 from four overs of off-spin, while pacer Russell’s lone over went for nine runs.

Sunrisers clash with Dwayne Bravo’s Chennai Super King in the final.