RCB vs KKR Playoffs Highlights, IPL 2021 Eliminator: Kolkata beats Bangalore by four wickets, to meet DC in Qualifier 2

IPL 2021 Eliminator, KKR vs RCB Playoffs: Get the live score updates, commentary and highlights of match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

Updated : Oct 11, 2021 23:33 IST , Sharjah

KKR captain Eoin Morgan after the win over RCB.
KKR captain Eoin Morgan after the win over RCB.
lightbox-info

KKR captain Eoin Morgan after the win over RCB.

Welcome to the highlights of the IPL 2021 Eliminator, Match 58 between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). This was Santadeep Dey bringing you all the action as it unfolded at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

HIGHLIGHTS

WHAT THEY SAID

Sunil Narine, Player of the Match:  Any good performance in a match-winning game is always good. Today was my day and made the best use of it. I enjoy all the wickets. I'm not that close to what I was before but I'm getting there. Hard work is paying off.

Eoin Morgan, KKR captain: Narine makes it look very very easy. On an improved wicket in Sharjah, he bowled outstandingly. Throughout the innings, we continued to take wickets post the first six overs. Then in the chase, being in control the whole time doesn't allow you to breathe as a defending side. When it comes off like that it looks quite strong and deep. The way the wicket played, we thought we have to bat quite deep. Onwards and upwards for us. For us it's a matter of coming back, adjusting and seeing what the wicket does. Looking forward to it. The cricket that we have played and the consistency we have shown, has surprised everybody.

Virat Kohli, RCB skipper: Their spinners dominated the game in the middle overs. We had a great start and probably should've tried to build on. It was more about quality bowling instead of poor batting.

I've tried my best to create a culture where youngsters could come and play expressive cricket. It's something I've tried to do in the India level as well. All I can say is that I have given my best. It's a great time to regroup and restructure the franchise for the next three years. I will definitely play for RCB. For me, loyalty matters and my commitment is with this franchise till the last day I play IPL.

KKR INNINGS

KKR 139/6 in 19.4 overs: If there was ever a well-timed boundary, this was it! A slower ball from Christian, which Shakib scoops over short fine. Two singles later, the scores are level.

AND THAT IS IT! WITH ANOTHER SINGLE, KKR MOVES INTO THE SECOND QUALIFIER WITH A FOUR-WICKET WIN OVER RCB. Meanwhile, RCB's wait for a maiden IPL title continues.

KKR 132/6 in 19 overs: 12 needed off 12. Nerves... nerves... Only five off this over as Shakib and Morgan resort to singles and one double. Kolkata needs seven off the last over. Goodness!

KKR 127/6 in 18 overs: Siraj hits the top of off as the lights come on. Narine departs. Is there a twist in the tale? Karthik has been dismissed, caught behind. It's all happening out here in Sharjah! With that dismissal, Siraj registers 100 T20 wickets and also his 50th IPL wicket.

KKR 124/4 in 17 overs: Padikkal, who is otherwise known to have a safe pair of hands, drops a sitter now. Even Narine would have thought that was it. Oh, this has been a horror show. Also, Harshal would have gone past Bravo with that wicket. This is unfortunate. However, Harshal has all but ensured the Purple Cap for himself this season. Kolkata needs 15 runs in 18 balls.

KKR 120/4 in 16 overs: Karthik welcomes Maxwell into the attack with a four over cover point. Four runs come off the last four balls of the over.

KKR 112/4 in 15 overs: Chahal gets his man! But is it a bit too late? Rana has hit it straight to de Villiers at long-on. Karthik joins Narine, who has been having a phenomenal day, thus far. It is time for the strategic break.

KKR 110/3 in 14 overs: Kohli still hasn't bowled Shahbaz. Is it because of the sheer number of left-handed batters in the Kolkata squad? Only three runs come off the Harshal over in the meantime.

KKR 107/3 in 13 overs: Chahal's third over goes for a run a ball. It is high time for Kohli to pull something magical out of his hat here. He would definitely not want this to be his last match as RCB captain.

KKR 101/3 in 12 overs: Narine has been promoted up the order. And the Trinidadian repays the faith shown in him with two back-to-back sixes! Christian has started o feel the heat, as he goes wide. AND ANOTHER MAXIMUM! The bottom hand's come off the blade but that has done little to affect Narine's fortunes. Wide again from Christian. What an over this has turned out to be!

KKR 79/3 in 11 overs: RCB needs wickets. It was about time Kohli brought Harshal on because somehow, he has always managed to deliver the goods this season. However, he sprays one down leg in the over, while trying to bowl the slower one. GONE! AND THIS ONE'S HUGE. IYER WALKS, CAUGHT BEHIND. And with that dismissal, Harshal has now equaled Dwayne Bravo's record of most wickets in a single IPL season (32).

KKR 74/2 in 10 overs: Rana changes guard and goes the distance over short third. SIX! Oh no... Iyer has mistimed this... Shahbaz drops a dolly. The KKR opener has a wry smile pasted on his lips. Rana goes again; this one's gone finer for four.

KKR 61/2 in 9 overs: Kohli and umpire Virender continue to chat in between overs. This may still be about the Tripathi decision. Meanwhile, as the run rate plummets, someone from KKR needs to keep the momentum going.

KKR 57/2 in 8 overs: Maxwell concedes four off his first over. RCB has found a spring in its step after the two quick wickets.

KKR 53/2 in 7 overs: Chahal has been introduced just after the end of the Powerplay. Kohli goes upstairs after Virender gives Tripathi not out. Giant screen shows the impact was on the pad first. This would have gone on to hit the woodwork. Out! 3/3 of Virender's decisions, which went up for review, have been reversed today.

KohliHarshaljpeg
Virat Kohli and Harshal Patel celebrate Shubman Gill's wicket.
 

KKR 48/1 in 6 overs: Harshal replaces Garton. Will he prove to be RCB's X-factor tonight?MAYBE! GILL, THE MAN IN FORM, IS GONE. Harshal has drawn the mishit with the slower one. ABD keeps his eyes on the ball and makes no mistake. Tripathi gets a boundary. This was bowled just a bit fuller and Tripathi has picked this over deep backward point. Strategic timeout.

KKR 40/0 in 5 overs: Breathtaking stop from Padikkal at point. Saves three runs. He might have hurt himself a bit in the process though. Kohli walks up to Siraj to discuss something with the pacer. Six off the over.

KKR 34/0 in 4 overs: 4, 4, 4 - Gill has exquisitely timed the first ball straight down the ground. He isn't done. Pulls next. Gets lucky off the third as an inside edge just swishes past leg stump. That's gone for four though too.

KKR 19/0 in 3 overs: An impressive over from Siraj, this. Just three off it.

KKR 16/0 in 2 overs: Garton to bowl from the other end. Out of the park! Iyer has unleashed an audacious pull off a chest-high delivery.

Gilljpeg
Shubman Gill in action.
 

KKR 7/0 in 1 over: Siraj with the new ball. Iyer and Gill begin the chase. The first boundary off Gill's blade - timed beautifully through midwicket for four. Siraj ends with a dot.

TARGET: Kolkata Knight Riders needs 139 to win

RCB INNINGS

RCB 138/7 in 20 overs: Mavi bowls the second no ball of the day. Harshal gets a free hit, which races away through the gap on the offside for four. Virender's LBW decision has been overturned yet again as there is a clear spike on the Snicko when the ball passes the bat. Run Out! Christian has been found well short of his crease as he was trying to steal a second run. Harshal to face the last ball of the innings. It will be just a single even as DK misses another run out opportunity. Not been the greatest of days for the KKR glovesman.

RCB 126/6 in 19 overs: Ferguson offers Christian a bit of room to work with around the off stump coupled with a bit of pace and that has been dispatched to the fence. Mavi gets all the time to settle underneath a skier! It is the end of a painful stay in the middle for Shahbaz.

RCB 119/5 in 18 overs: Mavi, who was taken for runs, earlier in the innings, comes back in style to concede only six off the over.

RCB 113/5 in 17 overs: Gill drops a sitter! My, oh, my... that is going to hurt Kolkata. A slog sweep from Shahbaz towards deep mid-wicket has been put down. THAT'S THE BIG FISH! WHAT A DAY THIS IS TURNING OUT TO BE FOR NARINE. Maxwell picks out Ferguson at short third. Narine finishes with an impressive 4/21.

RCB 111/4 in 16 overs: Umpire Virender raises his finger after prolonged deliberation over Varun's enthusiastic LBW appeal for Shahbaz's wicket. RCB goes upstairs straightaway and turns out there was a big underedge which went on to crash onto the pads. Timeout.

Narinejpeg
Sunil Narine after dismissing AB de Villiers.
 

RCB 108/4 in 15 overs: The Narine rampage continues! ABD has been outfoxed by the off-break. And another missed chance! Narine doesn't believe what he is seeing. Shahbaz nicks one just past DK's pads. What's worse is, it has rolled down to the fence.

RCB 100/3 in 14 overs: Brilliant work from Tripathi and Mavi in the deep as they deny RCB two runs. Bangalore enters the triple figures with a single off the last ball of the over.

Kohlijpeg
Virat Kohli walks back to the pavilion.
 

RCB 94/3 in 13 overs: Bowled him... Kohli looks to play for the turn over deep mid-wicket but there isn't much bounce or spin on offer. Narine strikes! ABD enters. And this is just the partnership that can turn things around for Bangalore. De Villiers is up and running with a boundary.

RCB 87/2 in 12 overs: Ferguson sprays the first one down the leg side. Kohli, somehow, isn't being able to connect for quite some time now. And the frustration shows as he looks up to the heavens and shakes his head. Right after, he unleashes the flick as the strong bottom hand comes into play. Four runs.

RCB 79/2 in 11 overs: Shakib to bowl out. One bounce - four... Maxwell announces himself with a switch hit! Kohli, meanwhile, goes past 400 runs in IPL 2021.

SrikarBharatjpeg
Srikar Bharat walks back to the pavilion after being dismissed.
 

RCB 70/2 in 10 overs: More mystery spin for Kohli and Bharat as Narine has been introduced into the attack. Bharat, looking to break the shackles, holes out to Iyer at long-off. Time for the Big Show!

RCB 66/1 in 9 overs: The spinners (Varun, Shakib) are operating in tandem and that ploy seems to be working fine for KKR, thus far. Bangalore has managed to score only 15 off the last 21 balls. The boundaries have dried up since Padikkal's dismissal in the sixth over.

RCB 62/1 in 8 overs: Missed stumping opportunity! Bharat, as well as DK, fail to pick the turn. Varun wouldn't be too happy with what just happened.

RCB 57/1 in 7 overs: A one-handed dive from Morgan at cover saves three valuable runs. Bharat gets a leading edge next, which, luckily for RCB, dips in a 'no man's land'. There's a bit of occasional banter from DK behind the sticks: "Let's get Maxwell in now, boys". Kohli survives a close call as he tried to return to the crease after being denied a single by Bharat.

RCB 53/1 in 6 overs: Ferguson is back with a bang! This is exactly what KKR needed. Padikkal has been knocked over for 21. Bharat joins his skipper at the crease as Bangalore goes past fifty within the Powerplay. It's now time for the Strategic Timeout.

RCB 49/0 in 5 overs: The runs are coming thick and fast for Bangalore now. Kohli works one over cover first followed by four more coming off leg byes. Mavi is starting to feel the pressure as well and that shows as he delivers a wide down leg.

RCB 36/0 in 4 overs: Padikkal greets Ferguson with a boundary. This was pitched short of a length, just outside the channel of the off stump and Padikkal has smartly guided it down the third man area. And another! Padikkal picks up four again, with a glance past short fine.

ViratKohlijpeg
Virat Kohli plays a shot.
 

RCB 24/0 in 3 overs: Kohli and Padikkal keep the scoreboard ticking with regular, deft singles off Varun's bowling. Sharjah is the venue where this opening duo has been at their strongest. They would be hoping to replicate their past performances here tonight.

RCB 17/0 in 2 overs: Mavi to share the new ball. With a nudge towards mid-off, Padikkal picks up a run. Kohli ruins an otherwise good over, with a powerful drive through cover for four. To make matters worse, the no ball siren goes off immediately after and a free hit has been gifted. Four more as Kohli goes exploring the backward point region on this occasion.

RCB 7/0 in 1 over: Morgan to start with spin. Padikkal and Kohli are off the mark with a single straightaway even as there is a hint of turn on offer from Shakib. And there! Kohli rocks back and hammers Shakib through square leg to bring up the first boundary of the evening.

Umpires Chris Gaffaney and Virender Sharma make their way into the middle followed by the boys in Purple and Gold. Opening the batting for Bangalore are Padikkal and skipper Kohli. The countdown begins...

PLAYING XI

Royal Challengers Bangalore : Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Srikar Bharat (w), Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers, Daniel Christian, Shahbaz Ahmed, George Garton, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal

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

RCBKKRjpeg
Captains Eoin Morgan (right) and Virat Kohli at the toss.
 

WHAT THEY SAID

Virat Kohli, RCB skipper:  Looks like a great wicket - nice and hard. It gets tougher to bat here in Sharjah as the game progresses. No changes. We have the ability to win games, nothing changes this being an Eliminator.

Eoin Morgan, KKR captain:  We would have loved to bowl first anyway. The toss doesn't bother us. We are feeling confident within the group, we are starting to come good as a team. We are playing with the same team.

TOSS

Royal Challengers Bangalore has won the toss and opted to bat.

Kohlijpeg
Virat Kohli ahead of the IPL 2021 Eliminator.
 

MATCH PREVIEW

Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders will meet in a clash of equals in the IPL Eliminator at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium today.

RCB, after three wretched seasons, has made the Playoffs in back-to-back years. In 2020, it lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator, and this time around, Virat Kohli would want to go much further and end his captaincy tenure at the franchise on a high.

For KKR, 2021 marks its first Playoffs appearance in three years. It has come after a remarkable run in the UAE, where the Eoin Morgan-led outfit has won five out of seven games after having recorded just two victories in the India leg.

Both Royal Challengers and Knight Riders come into the contest with winning momentum. On Friday against Delhi Capitals, RCB found a new hero in K. S. Bharat, who smashed a last-ball six to carry his team home. The confidence such a victory over a top-two side brings cannot be overstated.

READ |

RCB has also been helped by a certain consistency in selection, going four straight games without a change. But for the odd rejig of the batting order – like Dan Christian at No. 3 – players seem to have well-defined roles.

Harshal Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal have continued to impress while Glenn Maxwell has been outstanding.

ipl-graphic
 

KKR has recorded back-to-back victories, with the second a thumping 86-run win over a hapless Rajasthan Royals on Thursday. Shubman Gill has returned to form with back-to-back fifties, ensuring that Venkatesh Iyer, KKR’s find of the season, doesn’t have to do all the heavy-lifting.

READ |

Rahul Tripathi and Nitish Rana have been aggressive in the middle overs and how they handle Chahal at the sluggish but small Sharjah ground will be an interesting sub-plot. RCB’s batters will have a similar challenge against the spin combo of Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine.

Speedster Shivam Mavi will be a threat, having picked up seven wickets in the last three matches, including a match-winning 4/21 against RR.

The sole area of concern for RCB and KKR will be the batting form of AB de Villiers and Morgan. Their lack of runs hasn’t hurt their respective sides yet, but a return to form now will be timely.

- N. Sudarshan

PREDICTED XI

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Srikar Bharat, Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers (wk), Shahbaz Ahmed, George Garton, Dan Christian, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal

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

RCB vs KKR DREAM 11 FANTASY TEAM

Wicketkeepers: Dinesh Karthik, K. Srikar-Bharat

Batters: AB de Villiers, Rahul Tripathi, Shubman Gill

All-rounders: Glenn Maxwell (c) , Venkatesh Iyer, Shakib Al Hasan

Bowlers: Mohammed Siraj, Varun Chakaravarthy, Harshal Patel (vc)

RCB 5/7 | KKR 6/7 | Credits left: 0.5

HEAD-TO-HEAD STATS

Between 2008-2021, Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore have met each other 28 times. KKR has emerged victorious on 15 occasions.

RCBKKRjpg
Eoin Morgan (left) and Virat Kohli.
 

STARS FROM THE FIXTURE

SQUADS

Kolkata Knight Riders : Venkatesh Iyer, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan (c), Dinesh Karthik, Tim Seifert, Sunil Narine, Shivam Mavi, Tim Southee, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Rinku Singh, Lockie Ferguson, Prasidh Krishna, Andre Russell, Sandeep Warrier, Sheldon Jackson, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Pawan Negi, Karun Nair, Ben Cutting, Shakib Al Hasan, Harbhajan Singh

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Srikar Bharat, Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers, Daniel Christian, Shahbaz Ahmed, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Sachin Baby, Navdeep Saini, Pavan Deshpande, Rajat Patidar, Mohammed Azharuddeen, George Garton, Suyash Prabhudessai, Tim David, Akash Deep

AT WHAT TIME DOES TODAY'S IPL 2021 ELIMINATOR MATCH - RCB vs KKR START?

The IPL 2021 Eliminator match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore begins at 7:30 PM IST.

WHERE TO WATCH TODAY'S IPL ELIMINATOR MATCH - RCB vs KKR LIVE?

IPL 2021 will be aired live on Star Sports channels - Star Sports 1 , Star Sports 1 HD , Star Sports 3 and Star Sports 3 HD . It will also be streamed live on Disney+Hotstar . You can also follow the live commentary and latest updates from IPL 2021 on Sportstar .

Sign in to unlock all user benefits
  • Get notified on top games and events
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign up / manage to our newsletters with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early bird access to discounts & offers to our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment