IPL: Sunrisers Hyderabad to meet Gujarat Lions in semis

New Delhi - SRH edge out Kolkata Knight Riders in a one-sided eliminator

On a good Ferozshah Kotla wicket, Sunrisers Hyderabad made the optimum use of their bowling prowess to eliminate former champions Kolkata Knight Riders from season nine of the Indian Premier League on Wednesday.
Defending 162 runs, the Sunrisers did well to restrict KKR to 140 for 8 with seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar taking three wickets in last two overs. He first ended Manish Pandey's (36, 28 balls, two 4sw, one 6) resistence in the 18th over and then claimed two more in the 20th over to end up as the highest wicket taker for the winners.
SRH will now play Gujarat Lions in the third eliminator on Friday. The KKR batsmen failed to rise to the occasion in the face of some excellent bowling and top class SRH fielding that included a brilliant run out by Yuvraj Singh, who was the architect of SRH's total with a 30-ball 44 that contained eight boundaries and a six.
"Definitely, fielded well and that's what we set out to do. We knew if we fielded well we would win close games," said David Warner, after the match.
"Bipul's two sixes came in very handy. Little bit short with the batting, but runs on the board is crucial. So good execution by the bowlers. Took some spectacular catches and we try to improve every game we play," he added.
"I thought it was a very good wicket to bat on, 160 was chaseable. I thought Colin's run-out was a turning point," reckoned Gautam Gambhir.
"Didn't have big partnerships. Someone needed to play a Yuvi kind of cameo, it was an unbelievable innings, changed the momentum in their favour," the KKR skipper pointed out.
"And if one of our batters continued like that, we could have won the game. Gives us firepower in the last overs [with the bat] Tried our level best. We should have gotten 160," he felt.
"Bowlers did very well, batters didn't live up to expectation," the left-handed opner pointed out.
"This is a format where we have to keep playing well. Individuals can take the game away. We were confident, we had won against them, restricting them to 160 was very good. But when you lose someone like Andre Russell, it is difficult to replace them. Kolkata fans have been the most loyal," he added.