IPL 2018: Qualifier 2, SRH vs KKR- Who Said What

The second qualifier between the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) was a must-win encounter for both as the loser would have to face the wrath of elimination. Kane Williamson’s men eventually won the match by 13 runs and kicked KKR out of the 2018 Indian Premier League (IPL). Meanwhile, SRH will meet the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Final.

Sunrisers race away to formidable score

Dinesh Karthik won the toss and had no hesitation to field first. Shikhar Dhawan and Wriddhiman Saha took the Sunrisers off to a steady start. They notched a fifty-run stand after which Kuldeep Yadav nipped out the former, who was threatening to take the bowlers by the scruff of their necks. In the same over, the chinaman bowler delivered a body blow when Williamson couldn’t read a wrong’un from him.

Shakib Al Hasan looked ominous during his stint. However, his knock was cut short by an unlucky run-out at the non-striker’s end. Deepak Hooda, Carlos Braithwaite and Yusuf Pathan floundered and in the 19th over they only managed 138 runs for the loss of seven wickets. Nevertheless, Rashid Khan stomped in and plundered 34 runs from 10 balls to boost SRH’s score to 174 in 20 overs.

Rashid tear apart Kolkata

The run chase was well and truly in the radar of the Men in Gold and Purple. Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn blazed away to take the Knights off to a blistering start. Yet another time, Narine wielded his willow to good effect and scored 26 runs in 13 balls and helped KKR make utilization of the powerplay. Following his dismissal, Nitish Rana and Lynn compiled another vital partnership.

However, Rana’s run-out turned the match on its head. Robin Uthappa went for an audacious reverse-sweep of Rashid Khan and saw his stumps go for a walk. The leg-breaks and wrong’un’s by the Afghan tweaker was too poisonous for the Knights to intake. Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell perished in no time as the bloodbath of wickets ripped the heart out of KKR. Shubman Gill tried his heart out but in vain.

Kane Williamson, the skipper of Sunrisers Hyderabad, said

It was a great fighting effort from the lads, game ebbed and flowed. Kolkata are an outstanding side. Game could have gone either way. Credit to the way the boys finished off the first innings to get a competitive total. Game was slipping away a bit at the start, but we knew if we held firm, we could squeeze back in the middle. He (Rashid) was brilliant but he’s got another game, so we’re going to keep him wrapped up. He’s had a great season for us. Important we move on and focus on the final. As a team we fight to the very last ball and we showed that again today. Someone like Rashid is the perfect example. Outstanding talent, but he has a great attitude. Real team effort. That’s the attitude we want to see from the Sunrisers outfit.

He was certainly the MoM and he was brilliant, but a number of guys chipped in. The thing we didn’t change was our balance. We had injuries obviously, Saha was injured. He came back in, was nice to have his experience. Goswami contributed well, but that was the big thing for us to have that experience in the final. There were a couple of other changes, and that’s the way it goes. Everyone of those guys have played a big part, whether contributing on the field or off the field. It’s been a huge collective effort, but we still have another game of cricket left. They’ve been playing good cricket (CSK), and they certainly deserve to be in the final. It’s a great occasion, something that the guys will be looking forward to. It is about focussing on the next match now, one which the guys are excited for.

Rashid Khan, the Player of the Match, said

It was much needed for me, just tried my best to give 100% in bowling, batting and fielding. Full focus was to believe in my skills. Much happy with the batting today which was needed at the end. Started my career as a batsman, and I have the belief.

Just try my best to look into the length and play according to the length. Focus was to play straight, that’s what the coaches said. So where the slower ball or anything, played straight and got runs.

Can’t have excuses in fielding department. Just try to give my best. Working hard on that and it’s good so far. Want to dedicate my award to those people who lost their lives in a blast back home.

Dinesh Karthik, the skipper of Kolkata Knight Riders, said

It’s hard to digest. We played a good tournament, but to finish on the losing side doesn’t feel good. We had the game during the chase, but a couple of bad shots and one run-out changed the course of the game.

Me, Nitish and Robin should have finished it off, but me not carrying it through is a mistake on my part. Plenty of positives, youngsters have grabbed their opportunities and done quite well so that’s great for the franchise.