Kolkata Knight Riders
Rahul Tripathi smashed a six in the penultimate ball as Kolkata Knight Riders beat Delhi Capitals by three wickets in the second IPL qualifier here on Wednesday to set up a title clash with Chennai Super Kings.
Opting to bowl, KKR dished out another superlative bowling display to restrict Delhi Capitals to 135 for 5 on a slow Sharjah track.
Venkatesh Iyer (55) and Shubman Gill (46) then shared 96 runs for the opening wicket but KKR lost five wickets, adding just seven runs to stare at defeat. But Tripathi smashed the much-needed six to snatch win from the jaws of defeat.
Earlier, invited to bat, DC opener Shikhar Dhawan struggled his way to a 39-ball 36 but couldn't break the shackles. Prithvi Shaw (18) looked good in his brief stay, while comeback man Marcus Stoinis (18) got the start but couldn't capitalise on it.
In the 18th over, Shimron Hetmyer (17) unleashed two sixes off Lockie Ferguson after getting a second lease of life, while Shreyas Iyer (30 not out) hit a four and a last-ball six in the 20th over to take DC to a competitive score.
Brief Scores:
Delhi Capitals: 135 for 5 in 20 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 36, Shreyas Iyer 30 not out; Varun Chakravarty 2/26).
Kolkata Knight Riders: 136 for 7 in 19.5 overs (Venkatesh Iyer 55, Shubman Gill 46; Kagiso Rabada 2/23, Anrich Nortje 2/31, R Ashwin 2/27)
