KKR vs DC Highlights, IPL 2021 Qualifier 2: Kolkata win thriller by 3 wickets to advance to the final, Delhi knocked out

Dhawan (17*), Stoinis (3*) in the middle for DC.

DC are 38/1. Another fine over Ferguson, conceding just 4 runs

2 runs and a wicket from that over. Good start from Varun.

OUT! Varun Chakaravarthy strikes off his first ball today. He bowls the googly and completely outsmarts Shaw. The ball crashed into his pads. He then consulted Dhawan about taking a review but the senior pro said nothing done.

He is gone for 18.

DC are 32/1 after 4.1 overs.

MARCUS STOINIS, IN AT NO.3! WELCOME BACK!

Right then. Narine returned with figures of 4/21 in the last game at Sharjah. What can he do today?

SO CLOSE! And he almost gets Dhawan on the first ball, beats Dhawan's outside edge by a whisker.

SIX! A juicy full-toss on Dhawan's pads, could have slipped from his hands. Dhawan effortlessly sweeps the ball over deep square leg for 6

SIX! Another six. Dhawan targetting the 61m boundary. Full and straight from Narine. Dhawan nonchalantly smacks the ball on one leg for six over backward square leg.

DC are 32/0 after 4 overs

SIX! THAT'S A MASSIVE HIT! 90M. Shaw says enough is enough. He cahrges down the track, gets to the pitch of the delivery, clears the front leg and tonks the ball over deep mid-wicket for 6.

FOUR! Oh, smart cricket here. The last shot made Shakib go shorter. So, Shaw rocks onto the backfoot, waits for the ball and then cuts the ball past backward point.

After 8 balls, Dhawan finally off the mark.

DC are 18/0 after 3 overs.

FOUR! SHOT, PRITHVI! Shaw has scored the most no of runs in the Powerplay and you can see why. Rank half volley first up from Lockie outside off, Shaw leans into the cracking cover drive for 4.

150.8 KPH DOT! Wow, Ferguson isbreathing fire early on. A fifth dot for Dhawan as he tried to cut a fullish delivery that jagged back in. He was also beaten for pace.

PRESSURE ON DHAWAN! You can see Shikhar is getting frustrated here. Lockie bowls the hard length and just outside off. Dhawan charges but fails to connect the square cut.

DC are 6/0 after 2 overs

DOT, 1, DOT, DOT, DOT, DOT, DOT

After Prithvi Shaw gets off the mark, Dhawan plays four dots against Shakib.

What a start.

DC are 1/0

The two umpires for this big, big clash lead out the KKR team and the DC openers. 

Shakib Al Hasan to open the attack. 

Fireworks all around

Right! Time to take a guess. DC to post a total of ____?

Dhawan: 551 runs in 16 games

Shaw: 461 runs in 16 games

Last year, DC finished 2nd best after losing the final to MI. Today, they must overcome a confident KKR side to reach the final. Can they go all the way?

2: sixes Shikhar Dhawan needs to complete 200 T20 sixes.

• 5: wickets Axar Patel needs to complete 100 IPL wickets.

• 51: runs Axar Patel needs to complete 1000 IPL runs.

• 1000: Eoin Morgan is 9 runs away from completing 1,000 runs for KKR in IPL.

• 1000: Venkatesh Iyer is 11 runs away from completing 1000 runs across T20s.

• 50: Eoin Morgan is 4 sixes away from completing 50 sixes for KKR in IPL.

• 200: Dinesh Karthik is 8 sixes away from completing 200 sixes across T20s.

• 200: Dinesh Karthik is 7 catches away from completing 200 catches across T20s.

• 50: Dinesh Karthik is 9 dismissals as wicketkeeper away from completing 50 dismissals for KKR in IPL.

• 50: Dinesh Karthik is 10 sixes away from completing 50 sixes for KKR in IPL.

• 150: Karthik is 3 dismissals away from completing 150 dismissals as a wicketkeeper in IPL.

• 50: Rahul Tripathi is 3 sixes away from completing 50 sixes in IPL.

• 50: Shubman Gill is 3 sixes away from completing 50 sixes across T20s.

• 1000: Sunil Narine is 48 runs away from completing 1,000 runs in IPL.

LAST 5 MEETINGS: DC have won 3/5

KKR won by 3 wickets (IPL 2021, Match 41)

DC won by 7 wickets (IPL 2021, Match 25)

KKR won by 59 runs (IPL 2020, Match 42)

DC won by 18 runs (IPL 2020, Match 16)

DC won by 7 wickets (IPL 2019, Match 26)

Rishabh Pant: “We would have bowled first. We needed an extra batsman, so Stoinis comes in. Tom Curran is out. We are in great frame of mind, always exciting to play together, looking to have fun during the match also.”

Eoin Morgan: “We are going to bowl first. We have played a few games here at Sharjah, so far it's worked. There might be dew factor later on. We have kept the same side. We are playing some good cricket at the moment, we are confident as a side. Guys know their roles inside out, so hoping to come here today and produce something close to that. The mindset in the second leg has been spot-on.”

KKR- Unchanged | DC- Marcus Stoinis IN; Tom Curran OUT

Kolkata Knight Riders: Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan(c), Dinesh Karthik(w), Sunil Narine, Shakib Al Hasan, Lockie Ferguson, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakaravarthy

Delhi Capitals: Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Avesh Khan, Anrich Nortje

Eoin Morgan has own the toss and Kolkata Knight Riders will bowl first

In about 4 minutes time, we will find out who will bat first. 

“We are very excited because we've gathered good momentum in the last eight matches. We have won six and have done well and are feeling very confident today. It depends on the match and the situation. I take the role of bowling ecornomical overs in some matches and in some matches and situations, I look to attack. On this ground, if I am bowling from the shorter side, I look to bowl economically, and if I am bowling from the larger side, I look for wickets. DK didn't read me well in the last match (laughs), but overall he's reading me well. We always talk in Tamil. McCullum has asked us to express ourselves.”

“It's just about getting the basics right, we have played some really good cricket throughout the tournament, obviously the last couple of results haven't gone the way we would have wanted, but even in those games, the level of cricket we played was good enough to win. Small decisions here or there, a couple of bad shots or bad balls cost us games, but if we continue to think tactically, we'll be very competitive once again. I got a bit angry last game and let the boys know that. I have played my cricket emotionally, put my heart and sleeve into it and the same goes towards my coaching, but you can't do a lot in the dug-out, unlike when you're in the middle and can still try and change the outcome of the game. In that way, coaching is completely different from being a player. All teams have different characters, the great thing about our team is that we have got a good mix of youth and experience, which holds up in big tournaments. I want the boys to be playing their best cricket at the back end of a tournament and hopefully it'll be today. They (KKR) are very disciplined, have used their spinners very well, this wicket has been the slowest and the lowest across all venues, so that makes a big part of the game. But we have two world-class spinners as well, it could come down to who plays spin the best. It's a challenge to play at different venues and the boys are up for it. We have been great mates (on Brendon McCullum), we know each other for a long time, and share good memories on and off the field. The team that plays the best cricket today will obviously win.”

[KKR | DC]

Top scorers: Andre Russell - 272 Runs | Shreyas Iyer - 426 Runs

Highest score: 81 By Nitish Rana On Oct 24, 2020 | 99 By Prithvi Shaw On Mar 30, 2019

Top wicket-takers: Sunil Narine - 19 Wickets | Amit Mishra - 12 Wickets

BBM: 5/20 By Varun Chakravarthy On Oct 24, 2020 | 3/13 By Avesh Khan On Sep 28, 2021

"It's pretty cool out here, quite pleasant. The history of pitch No. 4 - the highest score batting first was made by RCB: 156. In the games that came thereafter, no one got past 132, so it seems a little bit of a challenge batting first and that's going to be the key," says Ian Bishop. 

Matthew Hayden On setting a winning total: "It's a real mix of playing fearless cricket but sensible cricket. Inside the powerplay, it's so challenging to know what that magic number is. I am going to say it's around about 50 - that'll do in the powerplay without the loss of too many wickets. This has been a productive surface for the fast bowlers. Bowling cutters, bowling into the wicket, it never goes over the stumps. Both teams have great spin options. Ultimately it's also a very challenging wicket when the ball starts to get really soft. Lots of smart cricket, but at the same time you got to have a sense of fearlessness, a sense of excitement for a big match.

Our DC Predicted XI vs KKR: Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Shimron Hetmyer, R Ashwin, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Tom Curran, Avesh Khan

Our KKR Predicted XI vs DC: Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan, Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson, Prasidh Krishna, Shakib Al Hasan

Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Axar Patel, Shimron Hetmyer, Tom Curran, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Avesh Khan, Anrich Nortje, Ishant Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Amit Mishra, Umesh Yadav, Steven Smith, Sam Billings, Marcus Stoinis, Lukman Meriwala,