Sensational batting collapse notwithstanding, Tripathi’s mighty six under pressure off Ashwin’s hat-trick ball helps Kolkata outfit beat Delhi Capitals in thriller to enter final
KKR opener Venkatesh Iyer en route his 55 against Delhi Capitals yesterday; (right) Rahul Tripathi is lifted by veteran spinner Harbhajan Singh after his match-winning six helped KKR beat Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 2. Pics/BCCI, IPL
Rahul Tripathi struck a stunning six in the penultimate delivery after opener Venkatesh Iyer’s brilliant half century to help Kolkata Knight Riders beat Delhi Capitals by three wickets in the drama-filled second qualifier and enter the IPL final here on Wednesday.
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Two-time champions KKR will face three-time winners Chennai Super Kings in the summit clash in Dubai on Friday. Iyer, 26, was the star of the day as he struck a 41-ball 55, laced with four boundaries and three sixes. He shared a 96-run stand for the opening wicket with the talented Shubman Gill (46 off 46 balls) in 12.2 overs to seemingly take the game away from DC’s reach.
But the match took an incredible dramatic turn towards the end when KKR lost five wickets for seven runs, four of them for a duck.KKR were cruising at 123 for 1 in 15.5 overs but from there on they suffered a stunning batting collapse. Nitish Rana (13) was out in the last ball of the 16th over and he was followed by Gill four balls later. Still, there was no panic in the KKR camp before Dinesh Kartik’s (0) dismissal in the final ball of the 18th over sent alarm bells. KKR needed 10 runs from the last two overs, but Anrich Nortje removed KKR captain Eoin Morgan (0) with the final ball of the 19th over, leaving KKR seven runs to get from the final over.
Shakib Al Hasan (0) and Sunil Narine (0) were then removed in the third and fourth balls before Tripathi hit a six off Ashwin on the fifth ball.
Brief scores
DC 135-5 (S Dhawan 36, S Iyer 30*; V Chakravarty 2-26) lost to KKR 136-7 in 19.5 overs (V Iyer 55, S Gill 46; K Rabada 2-23, R Ashwin 2-27) by three wickets
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