A brilliant cameo from leg-spinner Rashid Khan saw Sunrisers Hyderabad set Kolkata Knight Riders a challenging target of 175 in the qualifier 2 of the IPL 2018, at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Khan 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 Dinesh 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 Khan's cameo to take SRH to a fighting total.
SRH have defended three under-150 scores this season, including the 31-run victory over Mumbai Indians, defending 118.
SRH finished top of the points table after 14 matches. But the Kane Williamson-led side lost four games on the trot including their two-wicket loss in the qualifier 1 to CSK and the last league clash against KKR.
Dinesh Karthik's KKR, on the contrary, have won four games on the trot, their latest being a 25-run victory over Rajasthan Royals in the eliminator reach qualifier 2.
In the league stages, SRH beat KKR in Kolkata by five wickets.
The winner of Friday's big-ticket game at the Eden Gardens will take on Mahendra Singh Dhoni's CSK in the final on May 27 in Mumbai.
(With IANS inputs)