IPL 2018, Qualifier 2, KKR vs SRH: 5 talking points
2018 IPL table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad overcame Kolkata Knight Riders in front of their home crowd, at the Eden Gardens by 13 runs tonight in Qualifier 2, to book their place in the final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, against Chennai Super Kings, on Sunday.
Rashid Khan was the match-winner yet again for SRH, impressing with the ball as usual, but also with the bat, and in the field as well. He put in a brilliant all-round performance to lead his side to victory in a thrilling contest against KKR, who had their chances tonight, but ultimately fell short against the well-knit SRH unit.
Here are the five major talking points from tonight's match.
#5 KKR impresses on the fielding front
Playing in front of their home crowd, KKR had a spring in their shoes when they took to the field, after winning the all-important toss and sending SRH into bat.
Dinesh Karthik's side failed to pick up any wickets in the powerplay, despite a couple of close chances, but they were right on the money with their fielding, clinging onto most of the opportunities that came their way.
Most important amongst it was the catch taken by the Karthik to dismiss his opposite number Kane Williamson, that firmly put the advantage in the KKR court, especially with SRH losing Shikhar Dhawan earlier in the same over.
Kuldeep Yadav was the bowler who got the 'big two' of SRH, and he followed it up with excellent reactions off his own bowling, that saw the end of Shakib al Hasan's time at the middle, with Kuldeep getting his hands on to the shot hit back by Deepak Hooda to the stumps at the non-strikers' end.
Piyush Chawla also got into the act with an excellent catch in the deep to help dismiss Yusuf Pathan while Carlos Brathwaite, who looked to be in his groove tonight, had to head back into the pavilion, after an excellent fielding effort in the deep by Nitish Rana, saw the West Indian fall short of the crease while going for a second run.
The effort from the KKR fielders clearly had an impact on the SRH scorecard, before Rashid Khan spoiled the party for the hosts with his big-hitting towards the end.