You are here: Home » Cricket News » Karthik, Russell help KKR eliminate Rajasthan Royals

Karthik, Russell help KKR eliminate Rajasthan Royals

Dinesh Karthik and Andre Russell batted brilliantly to help Kolkata Knight Riders beat Rajasthan Royals by 25 runs in the IPL 2018 Eliminator match at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday.

Check out IPL 2018 Schedule and Scorecards | KKR vs RR Eliminator Scorecard

Rajasthan Royals made a mess of their run chase of 170 by finishing well behind at 144 for 4 despite having plenty of wickets!

Kolkata Knight Riders as a result will clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Friday for a spot in the IPL 2018 Final against Chennai Super Kings in what will be the IPL 2018 Qualifier 2 match, which will also be played at Kolkata.

Asked to bat first, Kolkata Knight Riders were in all sorts of trouble at 51 for 4 in 8 overs. Krishnappa Gowtham bowled a great opening spell taking two of the four wickets to fall. KKR captain Dinesh Karthik came to the rescue of his team to score 52 from 38 balls with 4 fours and 2 sixes. Andre Russell provided the finishing with an unbeaten 49 from 25 balls with 3 fours and 5 sixes to carry KKR to a respectable total of 169 for 7.

Apart from off spinner Krishnappa Gowtham, Jofra Archer and Ben Laughlin also chipped in with a couple of wickets for Rajasthan Royals.

The odds were in favour of Rajasthan Royals in winning the IPL 2018 Eliminator match with makeshift opener Rahul Tripathi slamming 20 from 13 balls. Rajasthan Royals captain Ajinkya Rahane, who opened the innings was slow, scoring 46 from 41 balls, which made it difficult for the rest of the batsmen.

When Ajinkya Rahane got out in the 15th over, Rajasthan Royals needed 61 runs from 29 balls. Sanju Samson perished in the 17th over after a 38-ball 50 leaving Rajasthan Royals a daunting task of scoring 44 runs from just 19 balls. There were no blinders or cameos to come for Rajasthan Royals leaving KKR with a comfortable victory.

For KKR, leg spinner Piyush Chawla was the most successful bowler with figures of 4-0-24-2 while Kuldeep Yadav was the real hero conceding only 18 from his four overs. Andre Russell, who bowled three overs for 22 runs got the Man of the Match for his cameo in the first half.

The post Karthik, Russell help KKR eliminate Rajasthan Royals appeared first on CricketHerald.com.