IPL 2018 qualifier 2: Rashid Khan destroys KKR, takes SRH into final

Khan took 3/19 in his four overs and played a cameo of 34* in 10 balls

rashid-khan-srh-ipl-salil-bera SRH's Rashid Khan celebrates after dismissing KKR's Robin Uthappa during the qualifier 2 of IPL 2018 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata | Salil Bera

In the IPL 2018 auction, Kings XI Punjab had offered to buy Afghanistan's Rashid Khan for Rs 9 crore, but Sunrisers Hyderabad chose to retain him using their right-to-match option. It turned out to be a masterstroke, as the 19-year-old wrist-spinner guided SRH into the final of the IPL 2018, helping them beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 13 runs in the qualifier 2 at the Eden Gardens.

Rashid Khan took 3/19 in his four overs, as KKR could score only 161/9 in 20 overs chasing 175. He also took a couple of catches and effected a run-out to round off an all-round performance. Siddarth Kaul and Carlos Brathwaite chipped in with two wickets while Shakib al Hasan took one.

Chris Lynn top-scored for the home team, with a 31-ball 48. His fellow opener Sunil Narine (26) and Nitish Rana (22) got starts but could not convert them into big scores. Teenager Shubman Gill played a lone hand of 30 towards the end of the innings but did not get much support from the other end.

SRH will now take on Mahendra Singh Dhoni's CSK in the final on May 27 in Mumbai.

Earlier, a brilliant cameo from Rashid Khan saw SRH set Kolkata Knight Riders a challenging target of 175. He smashed a 10-ball 34* (four sixes, two fours) to help SRH score 174/7 when even 150 looked difficult at a point. KKR's spinners—Kuldeep Yadav (2/29), Sunil Narine (1/24) and Piyush Chawla (1/22)—did the trick yet again.

SRH made three changes with Deepak Hooda, wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha and pacer Khaleel Ahmed coming in place of Manish Pandey, Sreevats Goswami and Sandeep Sharma. KKR made one change, leaving out Javon Searles and bringing back young pacer Shivam Mavi.

SRH started off on a positive note with Saha (35) and Shikhar Dhawan (34) putting on a first-wicket partnership of 56 runs. But, leg-spinner Yadav turned the match on its head, taking two wickets in his first over of the match, dismissing Dhawan and IPL 2018's highest run-scorer and SRH captain Kane Williamson (3).

Shakib al Hasan (28) and Saha tried to steady the innings, but quick thinking behind the stumps from KKR skipper Karthik saw Saha being stumped off Chawla.

Shakib was unlucky to be dismissed when Deepak Hooda (19), in the 16th over, hit the ball straight back where it flicked bowler Yadav's fingers on the way to the stumps, with the Bangladeshi all-rounder out of the crease.

Yusuf Pathan (3) and Carlos Brathwaite (8) did not last long, and it took Rashid Khan's cameo to take SRH to a fighting total.

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