IPL 9 Eliminator KKR vs SRH: Sun rises over Hyderabad, KKR out

Mumbai: Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 22 runs, they will meet Gujarat Lions in Qualifer 2 on Friday.

KKR innings

KKR 140/8; Narine 1, Morne 0

20th over: Bhuvi firing in here, cleans up Sathish. They need a Carlos Brathwaite to win the match now. Good stuff from Sunrisers after losing two league games to KKR.

KKR 138/6; Sathish 8, Holder 5

19th over: Holder is not a set batsman and it is difficult to face Mustafizur at this stage, two dot balls. The match belongs to Hyderabad.

KKR 130/6; Sathish 5, Holder 2

18th over: Pandey (36) looks for the big one, but Hooda catches him at deep. Holder is the new batsman. Sathish is looking to clear the rope but not quite connecting.The game seems to belong to SRH now.

KKR 124/5; Pandey 36, Sathish 1

17th over: Mustafizur starts the over with a terrific yorker to Sathish. Pandey pulls it back with a four, the game is still alive.

KKR 116/5; Pandey 30, Sathish 0

16th over: Henriques send Surya (23), Dhawan takes the catch.

KKR 110/4; Surya 22, Pandey 25

15th over: KKR need 61 off 34 balls, this looks possible but Pandey and Surya has to stick on. Sran starts the over. DROPPED! Mustafizur drops Surya, has he dropped the IPL trophy? Six runs for the youngster.

KKR 100/4; Surya 14, Pandey 23

14th over: Cutting has been good in his two overs, conceded only six runs. He starts his third. Pandey is looking to cut loose. Eight off the over, 100 comes up for KKR.

KKR 92/4; Surya 4, Pandey 23

13th over: Pandey slams Mustafizur for a boundary in the first ball, he is looking good tonight. He finished the over with a cheeky shot to steal four more runs, eleven off the over.

KKR 81/4; Surya 3, Pandey 15

12th over: Pandey uses his feet and steals a six, much needed 11 runs off the over. This man needs to stay till the end if KKR has to win this one.

KKR 70/4; Surya 0, Pandey 7

11th over: Henriques starts a new over, Pathan and Pandey have won matches for KKR before but this doesn't look like their day. Pathan, who struck three half-centuries, departs early for 2.

KKR 66/3; Pathan 1, Pandey 4

10th over: Cutting traps Gambhir, the KKR skipper steps out and finds the fielder. He goes for a run-a-ball 28.

KKR 63/2; Gambhir 28, Pandey 2

9th over: B Sharma almost trapped Pandey, close shave. Gambhir is using his feet and dealing in singles, smart cricket by the skipper. KKR need him to stay till the end.

KKR 56/2; Gambhir 25, Pandey 0

8th over: Ben Cutting concedes three off his over, the required rate is slowly shooting up. Gambhir still at the crease is a breather for KKR.

KKR 53/2; Gambhir 22, Pandey 0

7th over: WOW! Yuvraj turns the clock back in time and hits the stumps, Colin Munro (16) has to go. What a brilliant piece of fielding! The play-offs is alive once again.

KKR 46/1; Gambhir 17, Munro 14

6th over: Mustafizur into the attack; now, it will be interesting how Gambhir plays the swing sensation. The youngster has been the find of the tournament with one of the best economy rate. Three runs off the over, and that's the end of power play.

KKR 43/1; Gambhir 16, Munro 12

5th over: Bhuvi starts his second over, he has been exceptional in this IPL. Munro and Gambhir need to build a partnership here. KKR is looking to go at 10 an over.

KKR 34/1; Gambhir 11, Munro 8

4th over: Munro joins the party, four runs off Sran. The KKR batsmen are trying to set up the run chase within the first six overs it seems.

KKR 23/1; Gambhir 10, Munro 2

3rd over: Hooda introduced into the attack, Gambhir pulled him for a six. His intentions are clear, he wants to play positively and end it on a high.

KKR 15/1; Gambhir 4, Munro 0

2nd over: Sran starts his first over, Uthappa hits a four and then, throws away his wicket. KKR lose their opener for 11.

KKR 3/0; Gambhir 1, Uthappa 2

1st over: Bhuvi starts the proceedings for SRH, Uthappa and Gambhir out in the middle. Three runs off the first over.

KKR need 163 off 120 balls to win this one.

SRH innings

19th over: Two huge sixes by B Sharma takes SRH to 162/8 at the end of 20 overs. Morkel gets special treatment but overall, good spell by the tall man. He finishes with 2/31.

SRH 143/5; Yuvraj 44, Naman 6

18th over: Yuvraj is inching towards his half-century, SRH will be looking to get close to the 170-run mark. Two overs to go.

SRH 133/5; Yuvraj 40, Naman 0

17th over: Third wicket for Kuldeep, Cutting misses the length and Robin Uthappa doesn't miss a stumping chance usually. He goes for a duck.

SRH 124/4; Yuvraj 32, Cutting 0

16th over: Yuvraj showing glimpses of his old self, playing street smart cricket here. He is anticipating the bowler and using his brain. What a fantastic throw, that! Kuldeep gets into the act, runs out Hooda (21).

SRH 109/3; Yuvraj 24, Hooda 14

15th over: Eleven runs off the Narine over, SRH pushing their boundaries now.

SRH 98/3; Yuvraj 20, Hooda 7

14th over: Morkel back in the attack, SRH is probably looking at a score of 160 from here. Yuvraj playing Morkel well here. The South African is mixing his deliveries smartly.

SRH 94/3; Yuvraj 18, Hooda 5

13th over: Yuvraj takes on Kuldeep, a signature straight drive for six runs. He has moved to 17 off 11 balls.

SRH 82/3; Yuvraj 7, Hooda 4

12th over: Sathish comes into the attack, testing the new batsmen. Seven runs off the over. Yuvraj looks in good shape. Will he be the man for SRH tonight?

SRH 75/3; Yuvraj 2, Hooda 1

11th over: Yuvraj and Hooda are the two new men in the middle. The KKR spinners have turned the heat on SRH. Narine bowls a tight over following the Kuldeep storm.

SRH 71/3; Yuvraj 0, Hooda 0

10th over: Brilliant over by Kuldeep, he dismissed Henriques (31) and Warner (28) in the same over. Henriques tried to hammer the ball out of the ground and found the edge, caught and bowled by the chinaman before cleaning up Warner.

STRATEGIC TIME OUT

SRH 62/1; Warner 27, Henriques 23

9th over: The No 3 position has been tricky for SRH, they have tested around five players in that position. Holder continues with his spell, he is hitting in hard but yet to disturb the stumps. WOW! Fantastic yorker from the West Indian, Warner plays it off easily.

SRH 53/1; Warner 24, Henriques 17

8th over: The batsmen have taken off the helmet in the heat, Kuldeep Yadav is introduced into the attack. KKR is going all out with their spin attack to contain the SRH batsmen.

SRH 47/1; Warner 23, Henriques 12

7th over: Gambhir throws the ball to Jason Holder, the West Indies seamer is filling in for the injured Andre Russell. Holder is handy with the bat and could be the surprise package for KKR today.

SRH 43/1; Warner 21, Henriques 11

6th over: Narine into the attack, Warner hits him for a four off the first ball. The West Indies spinner who dismissed the Aussie in the last game is receiving special treatment, another four. He flicked it over the leg side.

SRH 31/1; Warner 11, Henriques 10

5th over: Pathan has been good with his length, the effort is paying off for KKR. Only seven runs off two overs and now, off to his third. DROPPED! Warner hits straight at Pathan but the big man couldn't hold on to the ball. It was a difficult one. He conceded a boundary in the last ball of his third over.

SRH 21/1; Warner 9, Henriques 2

4th over: Morkel continues with his spell, Henriques and Warner need a partnership here. Once Warner is set, it could be brutal for KKR. The South African pacer has kept the Aussie quiet.

SRH 15/1; Warner 4, Henriques 1

3rd over: Pathan continues with his second over, he has kept things tight so far. Warner's wicket here will put SRH into deep trouble. Only three off the over.

SRH 12/1; Warner 2, Henriques 0

2nd over: Morne Morkel starts from the other end. Suryakumar Yadav engages in a chat with the commentators talking about the adrenaline rush being in the middle. Dhawan cuts loose, two boundaries for SRH. Wow! Bowled. What a comeback from Morkel. The left-hander departs for 10.

SRH 4/0; Warner 2, Dhawan 2

1st over: Yusuf Pathan opens the bowling attack, interesting move by Gambhir once again. Warner is off the mark in the first ball with a quick single. Dhawan trying to read the situation.

Check out the playing eleven for KKR and SRH tonight.

Gautam Gambhir won the toss and chose to bowl; Andre Russell isn't fit, but Morne Morkel comes in place of Shakib Al Hasan.

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are two steps away from securing a place in the final of the ongoing IPL. They meet Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Wednesday in the play-offs and a win from here will take them to Friday's qualifier against Gujarat Lions (GL).

A loss from here will send either of the teams home.

KKR had a good start to the season winning most of their games. However, they ran out of gas in the middle, losing back-to-back fixtures. But skipper Gautam Gambhir, with terrific starts upfront and strategic captaincy, brought the team back to health.

KKR tinkered with the combination according to conditions; barring the Indian players and one or two foreigners, the franchise used most of their recruits – Chris Lynn, Jason Holder, Kuldeep Yadav whenever needed.

Yusuf Pathan finding his touch back is good news for KKR. He slammed three half-centuries this season and remained unbeaten in as many occasions.

Yadav picked up crucial wickets in the last league encounter against SRH.

Though SRH lost to KKR in both occasions, they cannot be written off. The team, led by David Warner, will miss the services of veteran India pacer Ashish Nehra but Mustafizur Rahman has been a revelation for them.

Warner and Shikhar Dhawan add sheen to the batting line-up but bowling remains SRH’s core strength. But eyes will also be on Yuvraj Singh, one cannot rule out the big match player.

It will be interesting to see the team combination of KKR tonight; all-rounder Andre Russell’s return to the team could be a big factor.

KKR is sitting fourth with 16 points; RCB and SRH are second and third respectively with the same point but on a better net run rate. GL is still on the top with 18 points.

Squad

Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir(c), Robin Uthappa(w), Colin Munro, Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan, Suryakumar Yadav, Jason Holder, Sunil Narine, Kuldeep Yadav, Ankit Rajpoot, Andre Russell, Piyush Chawla, Jaydev Unadkat, Chris Lynn, Sheldon Jackson, Rajagopal Sathish, Manan Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Morne Morkel, Brad Hogg, Shaun Tait

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Shikhar Dhawan, David Warner(c), Kane Williamson, Yuvraj Singh, Moises Henriques, Deepak Hooda, Naman Ojha(w), Karn Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Barinder Sran, Mustafizur Rahman, Eoin Morgan, Aditya Tare, Bipul Sharma, Ashish Reddy, Abhimanyu Mithun, Siddarth Kaul, Ben Cutting, Trent Boult, Ashish Nehra, Tirumalsetti Suman, Vijay Shankar, Ricky Bhui