IPL 2018: Eliminator, Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals – Expectation vs Reality

The final handful of games of the 2018 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) are here. With the first qualifier out of the way, it’s time to focus on the eliminator as the venue changes to the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. It’s the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) versus the Rajasthan Royals (RR) vying for a spot in the second qualifier.

Both teams have had a roller-coaster ride in this season of the tournament. While KKR started off the tournament on a strong footing, they lost the plot midway and found themselves lurking at the bottom before making it back into the top 4. On the other hand, RR oscillated between victories and losses consistently, only to step on the gas pedal in the final stage to get through to the play-offs.

Before the real action begins, let’s take a sneak peek at what we’re expecting from the encounter.

Shubman Gill to dazzle with the bat

Young Shubman Gill, of the U-19 World Cup fame, has been a solid find for the KKR and can be expected to contribute significantly in such a crucial stage of the tournament, where the team needs efforts from each and every participant of the Playing XI to end up on the winning side. Considering that Robin Uthappa has not been his usual destructive self in IPL 2018, we can expect Gill to be promoted up the order.

In the 9 games that he’s played, Gill has scored 145 runs at an impressive strike rate of 142.16. In particular, his innings worth 57 runs off 36 balls against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will give KKR the hope and confidence that the youngster can pull off something truly sensational in the eliminator to give them another chance to fight their way to the finals.

Jofra Archer to add more scalps to the bag

23-year-old Jofra Archer has been nothing short of spectacular for the Rajasthan Royals. Being just two steps away from playing in the IPL 2018 finals, the Ajinkya Rahane-led team will have their hopes pinned on him to rip through the KKR batting attack, and more importantly, to act as the effective solution early in the innings to the brutal force that goes by the name Sunil Narine.

Although the move to promote Archer up the order to open the innings alongside Rahul Tripathi in their last game against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) didn’t yield any fruitful result as he was dismissed for a duck, Archer has proven time and again that he’s lethal with the ball. Having claimed 13 wickets in the 9 games that he’s played, the pacer is the highest wicket-taker for RR and we can expect for him to help his team to reach the finish line on a winning note.

Here’s the reality right after the match:

Russell blitz propels KKR

The Royals began sensationally by taking wickets of the home side up front as they were left reeling at 51/4 after 8 overs. But the duo of Dinesh Karthik and Andre Russell managed to resurrect the innings and then launch an assault on the bowlers who forgot their lines with the latter going bonkers. Though the spin trio of Shreyas Gopal, Krishnappa Gowtham and Ish Sodhi bowled well, their pacers couldn’t back up their good job to concede 169 runs after 20 overs.

Death bowling wins it for the hosts

For most parts of the chase, the visitors looked in control before the KKR bowlers came back brilliantly. The duo of Sanju Samson and Ajinkya Rahane batted beautifully but failed to take the team over the line in the must-win encounter. The next batsmen couldn’t even middle the ball as the superior bowlers of the home side bowled impeccable lines. The likes of Heinrich Klaasen and Krishanppa Gowtham were not let off the hook as the Royals lost the game by 25 runs.

The Knight Riders will now face the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the second qualifier at the same venue on Friday as the winner of the encounter will set the date with the Men in Yellow in the title clash.

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