IPL 2018, Eliminator, KKR vs RR: 4 Unnoticed things from the eliminator match between Kolkata Knightriders and Rajasthan Royals

In a bid to move one step closer to the IPL Final, the third and fourth-ranked teams squared off against each other tonight at the historic Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

The accidental home-team (The match was originally scheduled to be played at Pune) Kolkata Knight Riders cruised to victory with 25 runs in their hand.

Rajasthan Royals Captain, who rang the iconic bell at the stadium to start off the play, Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and chose to field first.

RR made quick in-roads in the Kolkatan batting line-up and it was ultimately up to Dinesh Karthik and Andre Russell to take the score to 169/7.

The innings of Royals began really well and the openers Rahul Tripathi and Ajinkya Rahane established a platform for the middle order of RR to kill the chase.

However, the middle order had no answer to Kolkata’s bowling guile and conceded a 25-run loss.

Despite it being a high-profile match, here are a few things that may have gone unnoticed:

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#1 Shubman Gill’s Resilience

Gill helped in stabilizing KKR's innings

With Kolkata Knight Riders batting first, all their hopes relied on the opening pair of Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine to give them a fantastic start.

Tonight, Rajasthan bowlers managed to keep Lynn quiet and nicked out Narine early.

Soon the Purple team was in grave danger as their middle-order failed to contribute. With Robin Uthappa and Nitish Rana adding only six runs collectively, KKR was tottering at 51/4.

In walked an 18-year-old batsman, who was batting for the first time in this rigorous T20 condition and in front of such a mega crowd.

The youngster proved his mettle as he did not lose his wicket and supported Karthik, who freed up at the other end.

Shubman Gill was out to Jofra Archer, but only after scoring an extremely crucial 28 runs from 17 balls.

His stay at the crease stabilized Kolkata’s innings and set a platform for Karthik and Russell to attack.

#2 Ish Sodhi’s Economical Spell

Sodhi conceded only 15 runs in his four overs

The New Zealand leg-spinner did not feature in the original scheme of Rajasthan Royals for this IPL season. He was called on later as a replacement for the injured Zahir Khan who was ruled out of the tournament.

The New Zealander was then used by Rajasthan team whenever a track conducive to spin appeared.

In unison with Shreyas Gopal, Ish Sodhi displayed his international experience and kept batting under check.

Tonight, at the Eden Gardens, Ish Sodhi conceded only 15 runs in his four overs and was the most economical bowler for RR with 11 dot balls included.

He bowled 16th over of the match and bowling against rampaging Russell; he gave away only two runs.

#3 Ajinkya Rahane’s Opening Appearance

Rahane scored 46 (41) at a strike rate of 112

Rajasthan Royals, who had plenty of openers in their team, were confused throughout the season about their opening combination.

They tried Rahul Tripathi, D’Arcy Short, Heinrich Klaasen, Ben Stokes, Ajinkya Rahane and Jos Buttler.

Apart from Jos Buttler, no one presented an assuring account of themselves at the top. Even the solo performer had to leave to attend his national duty and RR again faced the dilemma.

One of their recurrent openers from last season, Rahane came out to open the innings tonight for Rajasthan.

He was already under the fire for being too slow. He scored 46(41) at a strike rate of 112 and was out at a crucial juncture.

#4 Prasidh Krishna’s match-winning over

Krishna kept the batsmen guessing with his fine bowling

After being in the control of required run-rate for most of the time, Rajasthan Royals lost their way out of the match with Rahane’s dismissal.

Yet, when the third-last over began, Rajasthan needed 43 runs to win. One big over and they would step back in the contention to fight SRH for the IPL final spot.

The over was handed to a bowler playing his first IPL, Prasidh Krishna. The tall and lanky bowler kept varying his speed and length to keep the batsman guessing.

He conceded only three runs in his over and dismissed Stuart Binny. RR failed to recover after this telling blow.

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