Twitter Reactions: Rashid Khan anchors Sunrisers Hyderabad to the finals of IPL 2018

The Sunrisers Hyderabad have marched in to the finals of the IPL 2018 with a clinical win against the Kolkata Knight Riders. The Sunrisers offered the knock out punch to the ‘hosts’ of the Qualifier 2. Coming in to the game, the odds were against the Orange army as the crowds at Eden cheered for the home side. Also, the Sunrisers arrived in to the game after a string of defeats in the recent games.

On the contrary, the Knight Riders were high on confidence with the winning momentum to their side. On the day when it mattered, the Sunrisers Hyderabad managed to defend 174 at the venue to set up the title clash with the Chennai Super Kings.

Earlier in the game, the Kolkata Knight Riders had won the toss and opted to field first. Dinesh Karthik had no hesitation in doing what his side has been doing very well this season. But Karthik certainly stunned everyone by fielding only three overseas players in the match. Well, the SRH skipper sprung a surprise too, by roping in three changes in the side.

The Sunrisers Hyderabad got a decent start with the openers, Shikhar Dhawan and Wriddhiman Saha, adding 56 runs for the first wicket. Both the openers got into their 30s before Kuldeep Yadav sent Dhawan packing in the 8th over. In the same over, he also dismissed Kane Williamson. Saha headed back to the dugout a couple of overs later. Shakib Al Hasan (28) and Deepak Hooda (19) tried their best to rebuild the innings but the innings lost the charm gradually.

The big hitters like Yusuf Pathan and Carlos Brathwaite perished cheaply as well. SRH stared at a low score but Rashid Khan had other plans. Rashid hammered an unbeaten 34 off 10 balls to guide SRH to 174/7 in the stipulated 20 overs. In the run chase, the Kolkata Knight Riders again got a sizzling start with Sunil Narine scoring 26 off 13 deliveries. Siddarth Kaul dismissed him in the fourth over.

Chris Lynn and Nitish Rana then paraded along for a brief while before a run out saw Rana perish for 22. Robin Uthappa was bowled round his legs by Rashid Khan soon after. The KKR camp needed Chris Lynn to stay till the very end but the Aussie was trapped lbw by Rashid on 48 (31). At 108/5, the Knight Riders knew they had potentially messed up the chase. They still had some hopes with Shubman Gill taking the game to the final over. But scoring 19 in the final over is never an easy deal. The Knight Riders fell short by 13 runs.

Here is how the cricket world reacted to the match:

For the latest cricket news, follow CricTracker.