IPL 2016: KKR hold nerve to beat RPS by 2 wickets in final over finish

Umesh Yadav finished things off with a six over long on off Perera and KKR have strengthened their position in the table.

Updated: April 25, 2016 12:25 AM IST

By R Vishal

IPL 2016: KKR hold nerve to beat RPS by 2 wickets in final over finish

It was a game that ebbed back and forth superbly but the spinners came out victors at the end of the game. A typically Indian wicket – slow, with something it for the batsmen and at times, two paced – was laid out at Pune and it proved to be the perfect tonic that that set the tone for a fantastic contest. There were contributions from both teams. Neither of them deserved to lose the game either. Eventually it was Kolkata Knight Riders who held their nerve to win the contest, winning the match by 3 wickets with 3 balls to spare. It was yet another painful loss for Rising Pune Supergiants. KKR vs RPS – As it Happened

Pune were sent into bat and Ajinkya Rahane scored yet another hard-working knock. The Mumbai batsman is never going to smash five sixes in an over and MS Dhoni has dismissed his Twenty 20 (T20) abilities. Here again, Rahane was RPS’ stabilizing factor as the team went about knocking the runs, quite slowly though. The scoring rate, even until the 15th over of the game never went over six and over. It was MS Dhoni’s belligerence in the last over that changed the look of the score at the end of the innings. Albie Morkel also got a couple of big hits. Also Catch: KKR vs RPS, Video Highlights of IPL 2016 match

RPS struggled without having Kevin Pietersen in the middle order. Faf du Plessis was out early on in the innings and there was much to ponder for Smith and Rahane. The Australian skipper is a below average T20 player and he yet again struggled for runs. Sunil Narine and Piyush Chawla were milking out dot balls before Morne Morkel was clobbered by Dhoni for 17 runs in the final over of the RPS innings.

KKR got off to the worst possible start, the in-form Robin Uthappa was trapped in front by Abie Morkel off the first ball. However, it was the approach of the rest of the deliveries in the powerplay overs that handed KKR the advantage. There were boundaries and sixes galore as Gautam Gambhir and SuryaKumar Yadav went about their task with minimum fuss. Gambhir took off for a needless single and was caught short of his ground. Surya had done enough damage though and KKR were 59 for 2 at the end of six overs.

Wickets continued to fall for the two-time champions. Shakib Al Hasan had a forgettable time with the bat. Yusuf Pathan had a slow start but soon went after M Ashwin, hammering him for a couple of sixes. Pathan and Surya, who completed a fluent half century, departed in quick succession and KKR were in a spot of bother again. The way M Ashwin set up the wicket of the well-set Surya was an absoulute joy to watch, it was top class from the leggie.

That was when KKR asking rate went up. Andre Russell though, calmed the nerves with a couple of massive hits, each one entering the third tier. The West Indian disappeared after his cameo, holing out in the deep. Then came R Sathish, who thumped a six down the ground just after Thisara Perera had bowled a fine 18th over. The Sri Lankan all-rounder’s hard work was undone by a calamitous misfield in the deep, which costed four runs.

Umesh Yadav and Piyush Chawla were the batsmen at the crease and KKR needed 7 from the last over. A rare misfield from Smith ensured that the batsmen finished taking a couple. The equation was down to a run-a-ball and Chawla went for the long hop, and Smith this time made n mistake, leaping forward and taking an excellent catch. Umesh Yadav finished things off with a six over long on off Perera and KKR have now strengthened their position in the table with the win.

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