Gautam Gambhir lauds the effort of SRH after defeating them in the eliminator

Two-time IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders kept their hopes of lifting their 3rd title alive after defeating the defending Champions Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 7 wickets in a rain-curtailed eliminator clash at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru yesterday. It was a match which started on 17th May but ended in the morning of 18th May.

Knight Riders bowled particularly well by restricting Hyderabad to a score of 128 in their allotted 20 overs and just as their innings concluded, rain started pouring down. The KKR bowlers bowled in the right areas and it was again Nathan Coulter-Nile who wrecked havoc and finished with a match-winning performance of 3/20 in his 4 overs.

The match was suspended for about 3 hours as the rain gods were not in a mood to allow the match to commence. Due to the sub-aeration facilities, the outfield wasn’t affected a single bit. When the match finally started KKR was asked to chase down 48 in 6 overs and they would have taken it any day on any pitch especially with all 10 wickets in their hand.

The target of 48 was going to be a cakewalk for KKR

Despite Kolkata being reduced to 12/3, it was the captain who played a match winning innings and remained unbeaten on 32 to help KKR overhaul the target quite comprehensively in the end. Taking to his twitter handle, the man himself said that it was a satisfying victory but his heart goes to Hyderabad who had to lose in a disappointing manner.

Gambhir tweeted that the scriptwriter of KKR was having a refill of the cartridge. Gautam was relieved for the change in the script of consecutive losses against SRH before the eliminator. The KKR skipper also hoped that the luck would last until the end of the final game of IPL 2017.

“4 loses out of 5 before last night v @SunRisers,seems @KKRiders scriptwriter was having a cartridge-refill! Hope dis one lasts till May 21st,” Gambhir wrote on Twitter.

4 loses out of 5 befor last night v @SunRisers,seems @KKRiders scriptwriter was having a cartridge-refill! Hope dis one lasts till May 21st

— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) May 18, 2017

Big thanks to KSCA for revamping their drainage system n flushing @KKRiders out of troubled waters…well literally. @ipl @BCCI

— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) May 18, 2017

If KKR had to chase 130 in their 20 overs, things would have been totally different given the pitch had plenty on offer for the bowlers and it was stopping and coming on to the bat. “Satisfying win but my heart goes out 2 @SunRisers, tough 2 fathom such a loss. U r a champion side @VVSLaxman281 @YUVSTRONG12 @davidwarner31,” Gambhir wrote.

Satisfying win but my heart goes out 2 @SunRisers,tough 2 fathom such a loss. U r a champion side @VVSLaxman281 @YUVSTRONG12 @davidwarner31

— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) May 18, 2017

Who would know how the match would have panned out if the rain gods hadn’t intervened? Definitely, it wouldn’t have been an easy task for KKR but this kind of things happen in cricket and at the end, it was the better team who emerged victorious.