Kolkata will play Chennai in the IPL final on Friday after beating Delhi in qualifying; Knight Riders needed 13 of 25 balls, but then lost six wickets for seven runs on 23 balls before Rahul Tripathi took six games from Ravichandran Ashwin; Kolkata in the third final of the IPL
Kolkata Knight Riders is in the IPL final after a thrilling three-course victory over Delhi Capitals in Sharjah
Eoin Morgan’s resurgent Kolkata Knight Riders will face Chennai Super Kings in Friday’s IPL final after overcoming a staggering collapse to overtake Delhi Capitals with a ball to spare in Sharjah thanks to Rahul Tripathi’s six wins.
Kolkata required 13 of the final 25 deliveries to overcome Delhi’s 135-5, but then lost six wickets for seven runs to fall from 123-1 to 130-7, with Morgan, Dinesh Karthik, Shakib Al Hasan and Sunil Narine each. no reason.
The firings of Shakib and Narine in successive balls from Ravichandran Ashwin left the Knight Riders needing six of two deliveries, but Tripathi, who had managed to go on strike when Narine shot from long range, needed only one to clinch a dramatic three-wicket victory. for your side. in the qualifier.
The victory was Knight Riders’ fourth in a row and seventh in nine since the IPL resumed in the United Arab Emirates in September, a complete change from the Indian stage earlier in the year when they lost five of their first seven matches.
Kolkata has reached its first final since winning the competition for the second time in 2014, with Friday’s showdown against Chennai a repeat of the 2012 final, which Knight Riders won by five wickets.
Delhi’s wait for a maiden title continues with the 2020 runner-up turning down two chances to reach this year’s final after losing top seed to Chennai by four wickets over the weekend.
The Capitals looked completely out of Wednesday’s clash with Kolkata, as Venkatesh Iyer (55 of 40 balls) and Shubman Gill (46 of 46) shared an opening showdown at 96 before Gill and Nitish Rana (13) added 27 more.
However, KKR collapsed once Rana sent Anrich Nortje into the depths, with Gill later trapped behind Avesh Khan, Karthik, and Morgan cutting Kagiso Rabada and Nortje respectively on their stumps, and Ashwin pinning Shakib lbw before he Narine fell to the ground.
Delhi looked like a favorite at that stage, only for Tripathi to crush their hopes for back-to-back finals and lead Kolkata to the trophy game, which will air live from 2.50pm on Friday on Sky Sports Cricket.
Ultimately, it was a lack of runs that cost the Capitals, with Rishabh Pant’s side stuttering after a brilliant start.
Delhi went 30-0 after four overs after being inserted by Morgan when Prithvi Shaw (18 of 12) hit a monster six from Shakib and Shikhar Dhawan (36 of 39) swept successive highs from Narine.
However, Shaw was out lbw to Varun Chakravarthy’s first ball at the start of the fifth over and Delhi’s hitters, including Marcus Stoinis (18v23) and pattern Pant (6v6), were later smothered in a slow cover. . .
Chakravarthy (2-36) made Dhawan his second victim in the 15th over, cleverly caught by Shakib in the backspin, and would also have eliminated Shimron Hetmyer by three in the 17th had he not been marginally overshot, with Gill taking a brilliant plummet in long on.
Hetmyer (17 of 10) punished Chakravarthy by hitting two Ferguson 6s on 18 of 15 runs before going out at 19, while Shreyas Iyer (30 not of 27) ensured that Shivam Mavi’s 20 was 15 when the Delhi ended. entries with six followed by a full pitch.
Venkatesh Iyer and Gill quickly quenched Delhi’s momentum, though it might have been different if Rabada had had a caught and thrown opportunity when Iyer was 23.
Iyer did not make an appearance for Kolkata in India in April and May, but he has been a fixture on the team in the United Arab Emirates, with his third half century in nine strokes, which included three sixes and four fours, leading him to to 320 runs for the tournament.
The southpaw reached his 38-delivery half-century, but then fell to the 41st ball he faced when he took out Rabada to replace outfielder Steve Smith on the deep square leg.
Iyer would have been nervous in the dugout when a car crash came down, but thanks to Tripathi, he now has a chance to build on his burgeoning reputation in Dubai on Friday night.
Watch the IPL Final between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders live on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event starting at 2.50pm on Friday.
