New Delhi: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) defeated defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad in a rain-affected match to advance into yet another final in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Batting first, David Warner-led SRH put up a lowly 128/7 on the board in 20 overs, post which the skies opened up and play was stopped for more than three hours.
After testing the patience of the cricket fans, finally at around 1 a.m. on Thursday, a six-over second innings was played with KKR needing just 48 runs to win via the Duckworth-Lewis method.
Chasing the paltry total, KKR got off to a horrible start as they lost three big wickets with just 12 runs on board. But skipper Gautam Gambhir steadied the ship guiding the team to a seven-wicket win with an unbeaten 32-run knock.
After the win, the Delhi batsman left a brilliant message for SRH, who were one of the most balanced teams in the competition.
"Satisfying win but my heart goes out 2 @SunRisers,tough 2 fathom such a loss. U r a champion side @VVSLaxman281 @YUVSTRONG12 @davidwarner31," the left-hander tweeted.
Satisfying win but my heart goes out 2 @SunRisers,tough 2 fathom such a loss. U r a champion side @VVSLaxman281 @YUVSTRONG12 @davidwarner31
— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) May 18, 2017
Warner and co had every right to feel dejected as they were not given the full quota of 20 overs to defend their target.
Batting great and panel expert Sunil Gavaskar also said in the post-match show that even if SRH had the best bowling attack in the world, it would have been next to impossible to defend a total of 48 with 10 wickets in hand.
KKR play nemesis Mumbai Indians on Friday for a place in the final. Rising Pune Supergiant are already there.
(With Agency inputs)
