IPL 2018: Eliminator, KKR vs RR - Who Said What

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) lived up to the expectations of the jam-packed crowd at the Eden Gardens and defeated the Rajasthan Royals by 25 runs. Though the margin of the victory seems big, the visitors were winning the game for most parts of the chase. But the bowlers of the Knight Riders kept on bowling the tight lines and lengths which never let the batsmen off the hook. However, the lack of boundaries frustrated the batsmen on the Royals who lost the momentum and the game even with six wickets in the bank.

After losing the toss, the KKR got off to a dreadful start as they succumbed to the spin of Krishnappa Gowtham. He scalped the wickets of Sunil Narine and Robin Uthappa to push them back early in the game. Soon Chris Lynn and Nitish Rana were sent back and they were reeling at 51/4 after 8 overs. Though the skipper Dinesh Karthik kept his cool and resurrected the innings first and then showed his finesse much like he has done throughout the season. He bailed his side out of the trouble and then found an able partner in Andre Russell who took care later.

The Caribbean slammed the ball to the boundary at will and scored 49 runs off just 25 balls to propel the score of his team to 169 runs which looked a competitive total at the halfway stage. Though the Royals started the chase superbly and the openers added 47 runs for the first wicket in 5 overs. But the wicket of Rahul Tripathi slowed things down drastically before the duo of Sanju Samson and Ajinkya Rahane tried to up the ante.

But when the time came to tonk the ball out of the ground, both of them perished to leave the new batsmen to complete the job who could never middle the ball. In the end, they fell short of the target by 25 runs by scoring 144 runs in 20 overs for the loss of only 4 wickets.

Man of the Match, Andre Russell said:

It feels very good. It has been a hectic road since the game against KXIP. Every game moving forward has been like a final. We know how important this was and it feels good to have contributed with the bat and the ball.

I think it is just a clear head. You get a short ball, you get a slower ball or a wide ball, you try to play a shot accordingly. It is about having a still base. I try to swing hard and believe in my ability. I have some good sticks as well.

I think it is good to take responsibilty as a senior player. I don’t mind smashing and finishing the innings off and then come and bowl the first over. It was a good game for all of us.

As I said, every game from here on is a final and we cannot take anything for granted. It is going to be a new game with a new ball and we will have to start on the front foot.

Kolkata Knight Riders captain, Dinesh Karthik said:

I think winning 4 games on the row feels good. Especially this one as we were under the pump. Credit to Shubman Gill. Absorbed all the pressure when he walked in. Before he got out, he played some lovely shots and eased the pressure off me.

In these games, it is about the attitude and the belief about how much you have got. In these kind of crunch games, it is never about the par score; it’s about how much pressure you can put on the other side. Touch wood, the bowlers have picked up their game.

We fielded well as well today, which was good to see. They (RR) always think out of the box. They kept a short leg and put pressure on the batsman.

They get the captain thinking. You need to hold your game and nerves. Every game is important from here on. Next game is important as there are two good teams which will be competing.

Rajasthan Royals captain, Ajinkya Rahane said:

Disappointed, especially given how we started, taking 4-5 wickets early. That partnership (between Karthik and Gill) and the dropped catch of Russell hurt us. When you get a start like that, you generally look to win the game.

I think KKR bowled really well. They know the conditions really well. It was gettable. They were 10-12 runs short. It’s important to finish the games and we didn’t have partnerships towards the end. When me and Sanju were batting, we were looking to play positively.

I told him during the second timeout that I will go after bowlers and that you bat through. But unfortunately he got out. I think overall we played good cricket. Our bowling unit fantastic this season. Need to improve in our batting and fielding.