KKR survive last-ball thriller to stay alive in top four race
An epic contest came down to the final ball, but Shubham Dubey was unable to get the three runs that would've sealed a memorable RR win
An epic contest came down to the final ball, but Shubham Dubey was unable to get the three runs that would've sealed a memorable RR win
Scorer: Sudeep Poojar | Commentator: Abhimanyu Bose
7.45pm We have started Sunday with a thriller at the Eden Gardens. Now you can head over Punjab Kings are taking on Lucknow Super Giants">to Dharamshala, where the action continues with Punjab Kings taking on Lucknow Super Giants. Don't miss out on any of the fun! From this game, it's Abhimanyu signing off on behalf of Ekanth, Sudeep and everyone else at ESPNcricinfo.
7.35pm Time for the presentation ceremony.
Andre Russell, the POTM: "We all know the importance of this game. We have four finals and we had to leave everything on the park and that's what we did. Total team effort from the guys. When I have a bit of time to go, I wasn't worried about the dot balls because I know I can make up. It was quite a difficult wicket to go start hitting immediately so I thought I'd give it some time. It paid off in the end and then Rinku got some boundaries too at the end. The scoreboard is the best indication. Playing so many games, you know who to target, who you can take on. When I look at the scorecard and see five overs, I see 30 balls and think if I can face 15 of those balls, with my power I can score 40 off those 15 balls."
Ajinkya Rahane: "Yeah it was very close. Really happy with the performance and especially way we started with the bat. The partnerships between Gurbaz and me and Angkrish and Russell were very good. We wanted to go hard in the powerplay and after that the pitch was a bit dry so we wanted to consolidated from overs 7-12 and then our batters could express themselves. [On the fielding] Fielding is a factor that we can control and save 10-odd runs."
Kasinathan: "Yesterday 94 and today 95 run knocks ends in losing cause. Hard Luck."
Rinku Singh: Everyone in India knows that this ground has the quickest outfield so we have to be very quick. I field outside the circle, so it's my responsibility there and I enjoy my fielding. Honestly, I enjoy fielding more than batting. [On KKR's last few overs] For a long time Russell hadn't been scoring, so it was a crucial knock for him. And when I came in, it was a good situation for me. We are taking it one game at a time and not thinking too far ahead.
Riyan Parag: "I was just too sad about myself getting out. Probably a miscalculation from my side, I should have finished it. I think we could have found better options in the last six overs. I think they were 120 or 130 and our spinners did really well and maybe we could have cut down their runs, but the game was in our hands. We should have finished this. [On bowling Madhwal when Russell was early in his innings] I didn't want to bowl bowlers back-to-back, but now it feels like maybe we could have done something else. We've got to give [Russell] credit because he came in, took his time. The way he accelerated was amazing to watch. It's a ground where sixes are hit, so I knew I had my boundaries if I stayed. Wicket was gripping a little and I had to pick my battles, but I felt I could have finished it. You've got to be clinical, you've got to be perfect, and we weren't so the consequences are here."
7.20pm Oh, it's been some ride, this game! From Russell's stunning knock to lift KKR to 206 when they were looking set for a score closer to 180, to Royals' early collapse, to Parag's stunning blitz of six consecutive sixes in his knock of 95, to Royals losing steam at the end leaving 22 off the last over, to Shubham Dubey and Archer scoring 20 of those runs - it has been an IPL classic. No matter that there wasn't much at stake for Rajasthan Royals, they showed tremendous fight, but it's KKR who live to fight another day.
JC Archer run out 12 (14m 8b 1x4 0x6) SR: 150
Rahane does a lot of tinkering with the field. KKR players have had a few chats now. Vaibhav now from around the wicket
Bharat: "SUPER OVER TIME!" -- everyone is thinking it!
It's come down to three needed off one delivery!
KKR win, RR win, Super Over - everything is possible!
Vaibhav Arora to close this game out
"It's that tiny bit around 'okay, how do we improve our intent through those middle overs'," says Katey Martin
Rajasthan Royals batter creates history during his 95 off 45 balls at Eden Gardens
Despite not looking fully fit, he pulled off a superb piece of fielding to seal KKR's one-run win
Parag made 95 before getting out in the 18th over as RR fell short in another tense chase
Russell was promoted to No. 5 and he revived the innings after it had slowed down in the middle overs