BTW, here's what our Sports Editor, K.C. Vijayakumar, thinks about what's in store for us from the rest of the tournament.
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And that is the end of the journey for Kolkata Knight Riders in this 2016 edition of the Indian Premier League. Just like that. A promising side through the league stages, but relegated to playing the Eliminator match and running into the Sunrisers Hyderabad's famed bowling line-up. Sunrisers pulled off some great moments in the field to clamp down on KKR's throat — be it Yuvraj Singh's nerveless direct-hit to send back the attacking Colin Munro, or the catches in the deep by Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar. Moises Henriques' 2/17 with a 5.66 economy-rate really dampened the chase, and the screws were further tightened by SRH's in-house yorker-dispensing machines — Mustafizur Rahman and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar. And KKR never got any partnerships going towards the end that could take them over the line.
I think it's safe to say that a team chasing against Sunrisers will need to have under 6 an over to get over the last 4 overs in order to have an outside chance of making it through the preserved overs of Bhuvi and the Fizz.
Funnily enough, Henriques comes in from nowhere to bag the Man of the Match award. Oh, I guess it's for his all-round performance, contributing 31 important runs too.
Moises Henriques is the Man of the Match for his all-round show. He scored a vital 31 and then took 2 wickets >#SRHvKKR>#IPL2016
— #IPL2016 #SRHvKKR (@Live_IPL2016) >May 25, 2016
Earlier, it was all thanks to Yuvraj Singh's elegant innings that SRH put up the defendable total of 162/8 against a great spell of spin bowling by Kuldeep Sharma and Sunil Narine. Morne Morkel and Jason Holder too tightened things up for the SRH batsmen with steep bounce and pace.
And David Warner is distinctly more skin-toned, as opposed to beetroot-red, like he was after losing the previous game to Gujarat Lions.
And Sunrisers will have to play Gujarat Lions in Qualifier #2 to make it into the IPL-2016 Final, one of the berths already grabbed by Royal Challengers Bangalore.
To sum up...
Good game >#SRHvKKR
— ali asad (@aliasad1998) >May 25, 2016
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KKR 140/8 after 20 overs (lose by 22 runs)
Some pace, Bhuvi is working up here also, with his yorkers. And he's castled Sathish (8 from 9) with a classical torpedo that causes a stump explosion. And then, Holder (6 from 7) has to go, deceived by the slower one, tries to heave over Long-off, and toe-ends it to be caught.
And these cheerleaders really do have a bipolar personality — over-the-top glee, over-the-top grief. They are sobbing away, huddled in comforting embrace. Their team is knocked out, — rather, eliminated — so the emotion is justified. It's the intensity of the emotion that's causing me concern.
>#KKR Cheerleader Crying, Do Match Ke Paise Chale Gaye. ;) >#KKRvSRH>#SRHvKKR>#IPL2016>#IPL>pic.twitter.com/9aFKXPqC3z
— Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) >May 25, 2016
KKR 138/6 after 19 overs (J Holder 6 off 5 | R Sathish 8 off 8 || need 25 from 6 balls)
Fizz again, to end his quota and KKR's hopes this evening.
More yorkers, slower-ball cutters... and Holder does an excellent job getting his toes out of the way where they can't be crushed and crunching it away to the boundary. Encouraged, Holder has now tried a reverse-sweep at the Fizz. Just a leg-bye, but the sheer gall of that shot, I mean to say. And with another crushing yorker, the Fizz signs off, job done. Collossus, this diminutive chap.
I love it when teams because of great bowling performances!! >#SRH bowlers manage to do that pretty often! >#SRHvKKR
— Shruti (@Shruti_msd) >May 25, 2016
KKR 130/6 after 18 overs (J Holder 2 off 1 | R Sathish 5 off 6 || need 33 from 12 balls)
Bhuvaneshwar Kumar. Sunrisers have really saved their best for last, haven't they?
He opens with a stance-splitting yorker to Sathish, a la Fizz. And now, now, now. Big wicket. Pandey (36 from 28) is gone, toe-ending a full-toss to be caught at Long-on. Is that the end of things for KKR, for all practical purposes, in this match?
KKR 124/5 after 17 overs (M Pandey 36 off 27 | R Sathish 1 off 2 || need 39 from 18 balls)
And the Fizz comes in to bowl the first of his two remaining overs. Not great weather for KKR.
Yorker, yorker, yorker. And a leg-splitter on leg-stump. This guy is like the utterly inept dance partner who keeps stepping on your toes with unerring regularity. Except the Fizz does it on purpose. Whoa. What a shot, here, by Pandey. He's got an attempted yorker that he converts into a full-toss by walking down the track, and he biffs him aerially towards Deep Midwicket, where it has landed juuuuuuust in front of the boundary ropes, giving the advertising padding a whole lot of visibility as the Third Umpire homes in back and forth to check for four or six. It's a four .
KKR 116/5 after 16 overs (M Pandey 30 off 23 | R Sathish 0 off 0 || need 47 from 24 balls)
This partnership needs to stay on if KKR is to knock these runs off. And Henriques continues.
And again with the short ball, he has snared Yadav (23 from 15), who has not timed this pull shot well at all, and Dhawan runs in laterally, keeping his eyes on the drifting ball, to swaddle the catch at Square-leg.
Spotted Chinese Shikhar Dhawan in crowd. >#SRHvKKR
— Aashish Kushwaha (@iamash_007) >May 25, 2016
KKR 110/4 after 15 overs (M Pandey 25 off 19 | S Yadav 22 off 13 || need 53 from 30 balls)
Sran on again. He's been expensive tonight.
And now, Yadav slices this back and high towards the Third-man boundary. But Sran can only watch in dismay as Mustafizur waits forever on boundary, mistimes his process, and drops the catch, knocking the ball over the ropes for six for good measure. This is heading for a tight finish as the rate rises up over 10.5 runs an over.
KKR 100/4 after 14 overs (M Pandey 23 off 16 | S Yadav 14 off 10 || need 63 from 36 balls)
Cutting.
Yadav and Pandey are unable to put Cutting away to the boundary. The Queenslander all-rounder is proving his mettle here, with an economy rate of 4.66 and a big wicket. Unbelievable. 100 comes up though
KKR 92/4 after 13 overs (M Pandey 21 off 14 | S Yadav 8 off 6 || need 71 from 42 balls)
The Fizz is back.
Pandey takes a big stride and flays it on the up over Extra Cover for four . Yadav is munching on his mouthguard, cool as an ice lolly, and gets down on one knee to paddle-scoop it in Square-leg's direction for another four to end the over. 11 runs, and the Fizz is boiling over with Frustration.
KKR 81/4 after 12 overs (M Pandey 15 off 11 | S Yadav 3 off 3 || need 82 from 48 balls)
Bipul back on.
Wickets falling or not, Manish Pandey will stay on the grind, though. He flows down the track and swings it smoothly over Long-on for a six . And this new pair can also push the ball around and run quite well between the wickets, it seems.
KKR 70/4 after 11 overs (M Pandey 4 off 5 | S Yadav 0 off 0 || need 93 from 54 balls)
Henriques continues.
And Pathan is gone, now. Feet nowhere, flicking away from the body on the onside, Pathan (2 from 6) yet manages to time the good-length delivery so well it rises and falls into Bhuvi's kinetic hands at Deep Midwicket.
KKR 66/3 after 10 overs (M Pandey 4 off 5 | Y Pathan 1 off 3 || need 97 from 60 balls)
Cutting is continuing.
And Gambhir (28 from 28) is gone. Henriques persists with his back-of-length mantra. And gets Gambhir to pull awkwardly and top-edge it into Long-on's diving hands.
gambhir shouting at his bat. Hahaha. Crazy man. >#srhvkkr>#kkrvsrh
— Madhuchhanda (@madhu27) >May 25, 2016
Yusuf Pathan comes in.
KKR 63/2 after 9 overs (M Pandey 2 off 3 | G Gambhir 28 off 27 || need 100 from 66 balls)
Bipul Sharma into the attack now.
Gambhir is playing the nurdling game now, just tucking and nudging and tapping. He's completed 500 runs this IPL too, BTW, just in case you're interested in keeping count of that sort of thing.
Meanwhile, Bipul shouts himself hoarse, begging for the LBW after he strikes Pandey on the pads with an arm-ball. 7 runs off the over, to bring on the Strategic Time-out.
KKR 56/2 after 8 overs (M Pandey 0 off 0 | G Gambhir 25 off 24 || need 107 from 72 balls)
Ben Cutting into the attack.
And Yuvraj is building himself a reputation here quick. Manish Pandey refuses to take the run, after Gambhir calls him through after tapping it to Point. Just 3 runs off the over.
KKR 53/2 after 7 overs (M Pandey 0 off 0 | G Gambhir 22 off 18 || need 110 from 78 balls)
Henriques comes in after the Powerplay. As everyone else this tournament, he begins digging it in from the outset. What's with all the short-bowling? And Gambhir has pulled this away for four through Backward Square-leg. Now, Yuvraj SIngh! What a piece of athleticism from the survivor. Gambhir drops it down to Point, and takes off on the run. But he forgets that Yuvi doesn't field. He prowls. And in a throwback to his fielding brilliance from the noughties, Yuvi fields it and fires the throw in — 1.5 stumps to aim at — to knock the stumps down before Munro (16 from 17) can drag his bat in.
TB: Gambhir and Munro running between the wickets! >#MatchaPeCharcha>#SRHvKKR>pic.twitter.com/vcphqvDInS
— Amazon.in (@amazonIN) >May 25, 2016
KKR 46/1 after 6 overs (C Munro 14 off 14 | G Gambhir 17 off 15 || need 117 from 84 balls)
Mustafizur Rahman has been brought in. What sparkle are we going to see now?
Maintains great discipline. The off-stump channel was rubbed ragged in that over. Just 3 runs.
KKR 43/1 after 5 overs (C Munro 12 off 11 | G Gambhir 16 off 11)
Gambhir punches Bhuvi meatily through Extra Cover for four . And Bhuvi gets a couple great yorker-length deliveries in to Munro.
KKR 34/1 after 4 overs (C Munro 8 off 7 | G Gambhir 11 off 10)
Sran continues. Four leg-byes to Colin Munro first up. And, Munro, woof! He's given it some meat there, absolutely wallopping it to the Midwicket boundary for four . So very much bottom-hand there. Like a lumberjack.
KKR 23/1 after 3 overs (C Munro 1 off 2 | G Gambhir 11 off 9)
Deepak Hooda replaces Bhuvi now. Just to get the mandatory off-spinner in for the two left-handers out in the middle. Bowls one too many rapid-fire flat ones before Gambhir unleashes his shoulders on one to power it over the Square-leg boundary for a six .
KKR 15/1 after 2 overs (C Munro 0 off 1 | G Gambhir 4 off 4)
Barinder Sran takes the other end.
What a shot. Uthappa's bread-and-butter. He can play that square-cut on the up all day long and smack it for four through Cover every time. Now, they get 5 freebies as a zealous Ben Cutting gives away overthrows in the quest for a run-out. And now, Uthappa (11 from 7) is gone, playing that same bread-and-butter shot of his, albeit this time, too uppishly, and straight into Moises Henriques' hands at Short Extra-cover.
Uthappa this IPL: First 9 inns: 313 runs with 6 30+ scores including 3 50s. Last 6 inns: 81 runs with 0 30+ scores and best of 25. >#SRHvKKR
— Mayur bayas (@cricrazymyu) >May 25, 2016
KKR 3/0 after 1 over (R Uthappa 2 off 4 | G Gambhir 1 off 2)
Robin Uthappa and Gautam Gambhir play out Bhuvaneshwar Kumar's over watchfully enough for just 3 runs. Bhuvi found swing right from ball one. Hence, the wary batsmen.
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What could have easily been the Chinaman invasion of Hyderabad was mildly diminished after Yuvraj SIngh came good with a 30-ball 44 full of the graceful power from his own manual. Kuldeep Sharma, though. What a spell it was. Bamboozlement at its best. None, save Yuvraj, could read the wily left-arm leggie's googly, and he ended up with figures of 3/35, which could have been a lot lot better if Yuvraj hadn't latched on to him. Morne Morkel and Jason Holder got some movement and rise off the wicket too, so perhaps something for Barinder Sran and the Fizz to look forward to?
SRH about 15 runs short. Need an inspired bowling performance to win tonight. Have 8 bowling options including 3 spinners. >#SRHvKKR
— Aditya (@forwardshortleg) >May 25, 2016
I have a feeling Sunrisers will take this score. Given their bowling resources. Although it's a small ground. And Kolkata Knight Riders are full of big hitters.
SRH 162/8 after 20 overs (B Sharma 14 off 5 | B Sran 0 off 0)
Morne to finish with pace. Bipul Sharma gets a clean drive that sails over Long-off for a six . Great timing; off the bat and in the context of the game. And another! This time, Bipul has chop-heaved it straight over the sight-screen for another six . Bhuvaneshwar Kumar (1 from 2) tries to get in on the action too. Swipes at a short delivery, and chips it upwards for Manish Pandey to fumble once and collect safely in the end.
SRH 147/7 after 19 overs (B Sharma 1 off 1 | B Kumar 1 off 1)
Holder back. Yuvraj (44 from 30) is trying to manufacture shots, here. Totally not his wont or his forte. After under-edging a full-toss, he tries to move across his stumps to lap-scoop a man of Holder's pace through Fine-leg. The woodwork rattle sounded like, "Crazy shot". And now, Ojha (7 from 9) is gone too, with a big heave that takes a fine edge that Uthappa does well to dive forward and pouch.
Yuvi was inspired by DeVillers innings last night.He tried playing a paddle sweep like AB & got his middle stump uprooted.
Well, now. What was looking like 170+, now looks to be 160 at a stretch.
SRH 143/5 after 18 overs (N Ojha 6 off 7 | Y Singh 44 off 28)
Narine bowls an awkward over. A wide, some great fielding, and an unfortunate top-edge that races away for four off Yuvi's bat, and then a tantalising delivery that has Yuvi floundering.
4000 runs for >@YUVSTRONG12 in T20s. Just another day in office for the champ. >#SRHvKKR
— Pune Supergiants (@RPSupergiants) >May 25, 2016
SRH 133/5 after 17 overs (N Ojha 1 off 3 | Y Singh 40 off 26)
And Kuldeep has struck, once again! Now, it's Ben Cutting (0 from 1) who has zero clue about that googly that swerved away from his swish, and he is stumped comfortably. Yuvraj now, saved by his own lethargy. He finds himself stranded, almost at the other end, as Naman Ojha refuses to come through for the run. He just stands there, dazed and confused about what to do, like a sloth that has fed on rum-soaked berries. The throw comes flying, ricochets off his boot, and leaves him free to flee back to the safety of his crease. What luck, there.
>@SonyMAX Running btw wickets yuvi & ojha.. Hehe .. >#Contest>#SRHvKKR>#HappywalaReaction>#EkIndiaHappywala>pic.twitter.com/fyvD8U4zrN
— Shubha KV (@shubhakv) >May 25, 2016
And now, he will make it count, as he power-sweeps it down to Midwicket for four , sashays down the tracks and caresses it to the Midwicket boundary for four past a diving boundary-rider.
SRH 124/4 after 16 overs (B Cutting 0 off 0 | Y Singh 34 off 24)
Whoa! That was such a brute hack by Hooda to send Holder over the Midwicket boundary for six . He's got power, this man. Now, Yuvraj has just helped that short ball on its way to the Fine-leg boundary for four .
Oh oh. Trouble has struck. And Hooda (21 from 13) won't be sending anymore balls to the boundary tonight. Yuvraj could have made it, had he been more of an athlete, but he stayed back, and Hooda sets off on a horribly misguided run that Kuldeep cuts short with a fiery direct-hit from Mid-on.
NOO! Hooda is run out once again! Absolutely senseless >#SRHvKKR>#OrangeArmy
— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) >May 25, 2016
A Time-out is taken here.
And Yuvraj completes the over with a cracking four off his legs through Midwicket. Pure sublime stroke-making.
SRH 109/3 after 15 overs (D Hooda 14 off 11 | Y Singh 24 off 20)
And Narine too has been taken to the boundary. Hooda takes a huge stride and hoicks him on the on-side for six . And Yuvraj caps the over off with a swings through cleanly enough to send the ball hurtling to the straight boundary for four . The game is on, now. 11 runs.
Yuvitards waiting for Yuvi's fifty since ages.
SRH 98/3 after 14 overs (D Hooda 7 off 9 | Y Singh 20 off 16)
Morne Morkel back for his third over. Whoa. All these yorkers! And at that searing pace. The final delivery has that tennis-ball bounce that Yuvraj twists under, and is aghast at not being given an extra.
SRH 94/3 after 13 overs (D Hooda 5 off 7 | Y Singh 18 off 12)
Kuldeep is back from the other end now. Yuvraj has his number though. Is his high back-swing giving him that bit of extra time to read him? First he thwacks the Chinaman bowler through Midwicket, and then, graceful as you please, he has lofted him straight down the ground fo six . Kuldeep looks a different bowler when the batsman is reading him, or, in any case, neutralising his turn. 12 runs there.
SRH 82/3 after 12 overs (D Hooda 4 off 5 | Y Singh 7 off 8)
Rajagopal Sathish in now, to give Kuldeep and end-change? Short run-up. Bowls a quiet over, till the final delivery, when he is flayed to the Third-man boundary for four by Yuvraj.
SRH 73/3 after 11 overs (D Hooda 0 off 1 | Y Singh 2 off 6)
Narine, bowling with a Silly Point now. Yuvraj is an edgy player at the start of his innings. And he was completely at sea in that over against Narine's varations.
SRH 71/3 after 10 overs (D Hooda 0 off 1 | Y Singh 0 off 0)
Henriques! Gets a six there with a lucky shot, but not the best of timing. And now Kuldeep has caught-and-bowled Henriques (31 from 21), tempting him with an eminently hoickable flat delivery that is fired through to take the top-edge. And immediately, a beautifully-flighted googly gets Warner (28 from 28) sweeping all over it, and bowled. What a turnaround Kuldeep has engineered this over.
SRH 62/1 after 9 overs (M Henriques 23 off 18 | D Warner 27 off 26)
Henriques unleashed a graceful hook shot to Holder that went for four . Otherwise, a great over with bouncers, yorkers and jagging cutters.
SRH 53/1 after 8 overs (M Henriques 17 off 15 | D Warner 24 off 23)
Kuldeep Yadav's legbreak. Some very effective googlies in that over, at least two of which the batsmen couldn't pick. 6 runs.
SRH 47/1 after 7 overs (M Henriques 13 off 11 | D Warner 23 off 21)
Jason Holder now. He's getting some rise off good length. Tight over as the batsmen work out how to play him. Just 4 runs.
SRH 43/1 after 6 overs (M Henriques 11 off 9 | D Warner 21 off 17)
Sunil Narine in with his pseudo chucks. Fine shot here first up by Warner, just moving legwards to get to the leg-stump line and steering it through a gap to the Square-leg boundary for four . A wide follows. Now, Narine is bowling with some flight. But Warner skips down and whips it through Midwicket fior four .
SRH 31/1 after 5 overs (M Henriques 10 off 8 | D Warner 11 off 12)
Warner is all up in Pathan's face this over. Smashes one straight at him, and Pathan can only dive over it. Then he bashes it riskily right back at him once again; Pathan is so taken aback he spills the catch, and then has to have the physio take a look at his fingers for signs of damage. Henriques reminds us he is also quite the basher, and unleashes himself over Midwicket for a big six of the last ball.
SRH 21/1 after 4 overs (M Henriques 2 off 4 | D Warner 9 off 10)
Morkel. What a good-natured moment, as Warner blocks a short delivery, bends down, picks the ball up and hands it to Morkel with a smile. Something good-natured about this shot, off the last ball of the over, where Warner softly urges the ball to deviate course ever so slightly and rush away through Third-man for four .
SRH 15/1 after 3 overs (M Henriques 1 off 1 | D Warner 4 off 7)
Pathan continues. And it's another tight over, in which he fires the ball in, cramping David Warner and Moises Henriques with his lines too.
SRH 12/1 after 2 overs (M Henriques 0 off 0 | D Warner 2 off 2)
Morne Morkel steams in. Three great deliveries, and then Dhawan breaks the shackles by slashing it through Third-man for four , then swatting it to the Midwicket boundary for another four . Oh, Dhawan, he never learns. The next delivery, a length delivery on middle stump, castles him as he tries to step away and cut it fine on the offside. Utterly unnecessary shot, if you ask me.
Now That >#IPL Is Almost Over. Shikhar Dhawan Is Back In Form. ;) >#KKRvSRH>#SRHvKKR>#IPL2016>#IPL>#IPL9
— Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) >May 25, 2016
Some short-lived form, that.
SRH 4/0 after 1 over (S Dhawan 2 off 4 | D Warner 2 off 2)
Yusuf Pathan to begin proceedings for the Kolkata Knight Riders. Quiet over apart from the loud appeal against Shikhar Dhawan second ball.
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Kolkata Knight Riders win the toss and choose to field first . It's a small ground, and that reduces pressure while chasing that much more. So, why not, feels Gambhir.
Kolkata Knight Riders do not have Andre Russell tonight (!), so they have brought in Morne Morkel. And R Sathish in place of Ankit Rajpoot...
G Gambhir*, RV Uthappa†, MK Pandey, C Munro, YK Pathan, SA Yadav, R Sathish, JO Holder, Kuldeep Yadav, M Morkel, SP Narine
Sunrisers Hyderabad are leaving out Kane Williamson and Karn Sharma for Ben Cutting and Bipul Sharma...
S Dhawan, DA Warner*, MC Henriques, Yuvraj Singh, NV Ojha†, DJ Hooda, BCJ Cutting, Bipul Sharma, B Kumar, BB Sran, Mustafizur Rahman
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KKR has a formidable batting strength with the likes of Robin Uthappa and Manish Pandey capable of dictating the result of the match with their innovative style. Off-spinner Sunil Narine may have lost some of his guile but continues to command respect with his accuracy. Russell’s injury can hurt KKR even as it relies on Shakib Al Hasan’s all-round skills.
SRH has demonstrated the significance of good bowling. It is feasible to place your faith in bowlers in this batsman-dominated tournament but the leader of this campaign, Nehra, will watch the action from England where he recovers from a hamstring injury. >Read our preview to get a grasp of the elements of this clash .
Sunrisers Hyderabad Squad
DA Warner*, A Ashish Reddy, RK Bhui, Bipul Sharma, TA Boult, BCJ Cutting, S Dhawan, MC Henriques, DJ Hooda, S Kaul, B Kumar, A Mithun, EJG Morgan, Mustafizur Rahman, NV Ojha, V Shankar, KV Sharma, BB Sran, TL Suman, AP Tare, KS Williamson, Yuvraj Singh
Kolkata Knight Riders Squad
G Gambhir*, PP Chawla, GB Hogg, JO Holder, SP Jackson, Kuldeep Yadav, CA Lynn, Manan Sharma, M Morkel, C Munro, SP Narine, MK Pandey, YK Pathan, AS Rajpoot, AD Russell, R Sathish, Shakib Al Hasan, SW Tait, JD Unadkat, RV Uthappa, SA Yadav, UT Yadav
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Hello and welcome to the Eliminator IPL match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders in Delhi.
The Knight Riders have beaten Sunrisers twice in the league stages, and will look to press their psychological advantage in Delhi to knock their opponents out of the tournament. The winner of this game will have to play Gujarat Lions for a shot at the final.
