Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals - Match 54

Right then, the last of double header action this league season ends. Earlier, Chennai beat Punjab and both teams are now flying back to India. While in game 54, Kolkata reduced Rajasthan to pulp. The latter is also out of contention for the playoffs spot now. Kolkata is still alive, courtesy the 60-run win but they must wait, need to reiterate, THEY MUST WAIT! We will only get to know later on, if they can qualify. Meanwhile, the action continues on Monday, 2nd November 2020, with Delhi taking on Bangalore. The winner of that clash secures the other berth in the top 2, alongside Mumbai. The action for Match 55 begins at 1800 Local (1400 GMT) but our build-up begins well in advance. Tune in for that and till then, take care and goodnight!

No prizes for guessing who is the Man of the Match. It is Pat Cummins. Admits that it was not a very great start for him. He did not look too forward when bowling. On his favourite ball, Cummins says it is top of the stumps, around off. Says that he likes to put most of his balls in that area. In T20 cricket, Pat says that some days one bowls well and some days they don't. Is happy that a couple of wickets have come. The longer the tournament has progressed, the better he has bowled, Cummins says. 

Eoin Morgan, THE WINNING CAPTAIN, says that the score they got was around a par score. Adds that all his batsmen felt that it was a really good score. Feels that to post that big of a score even with wickets falling, Morgan says he is amazed. States that Kolkata knew that dew would come in later on, in the evening. Having spent time out in the middle, he says that the hard and good length balls work well. States that Cummins set the tone. Says that winning the game was about taking the wickets. Adds that Rajasthan have many world-class players on their side and it was important to take them out. Says that Rajasthan are a fantastic side as are the majority of the teams today. Adds that Kolkata cannot do anything beyond what they did today. He says that beyond this everything is left to god.

Stay tuned for the presentation.

Andre Russell is up for a chat. Says that it is good to be back and be amongst the runs as well. Says that he had a tough rehab. Is priviliged to be back and running around. He says that he would have been out for a long time but for Kolkata's doctors and the management, he is up and running and was able to feature in this game. Says that he does not want to disturb the healing process and force himself to bowl. On his wicket, him getting caught, Russell admits that he knew he stroked it straight to the fielder. Is happy that the team got these 2 crucial points. Says that he loves following cricket and watches every game. States that the middle overs is normally where he bats so he watches and sees what everyone does there.

Steven Smith, Rajasthan's captain, says that the wicket was probably around 180. Losing 4 wickets in the Powerplay, it was always going to be tough from there. Says that Pat Cummins bowled nice lengths. Adds that the first over, Rajasthan got off to a flier but then kept losing wickets later on. Says that some batters did not take responsibility throughout the tournament. Says though that there are a couple of positives that Rajasthan have unearthed - Jofra Archer and Rahul Tewatia. Smith says that the latter bowled really well throughout the tournament. Smith agrees that every side in this tournament is tough. Says that it is a disappointing day for Rajasthan to bow out. Adds that it has been great. Congratulates the organizers for putting up a wonderful show in Dubai. States that many in India are going through tough times and hopes that the players could do their bit to entertain them. States that the BCCI have done really well to put up this show.

Earlier in the evening, Kolkata managed to reach 191, thanks to their captain, Morgan! His superb 68 off 35 did not just steady the sinking ship but also took them to a winning total. Tewatia was the star with the ball for the side from the 'Pink City' as he finished with a 3-fer. That though was not enough to keep Kolkata to a chaseable total.

Excellent bowling performance from Kolkata. Cometh the hour, cometh the man! That is what their most expensive buy did. He delivered at the most crucial stage for his side. His 4-fer set his side up for the win. Mavi and the impressive Chakravarthy built on it with 2 wickets each. Nagarkoti got one as well. This ensured Rajasthan never recovered.

Chasing 192, Rajasthan looked like they would be able to chase it for just 13 balls. They lost Uthappa in the first over, Stokes followed soon. That set the precedent for the evening. Wickets fell in clusters and when you lose 4 inside the Powerplay, it is difficult to comeback, especially chasing 192! Buttler and Tewatia scored 35 and 31 but that was the only saving grace in an abject batting performance. That sees them finish bottom of the league.

Comprehensive win for Kolkata and they have knocked out Rajasthan. Kolkata have finished the league with 14 points but will it be enough to see them qualify for the playoffs? Only time will tell. Bet all the Kolkata fans and players will be glued to their Television for the next two days, keeping a close eye on the remaining 2 games. 

Varun Aaron is the last man in for Rajasthan.

Who's in now? Kartik Tyagi it is.

Varun Chakravarthy has completed his alloted quota. Here comes Sunil Narine to bowl out. 3-0-26-0 for him. He would fancy a wicket or two here.

Shivam Mavi is back to bowl. 2-1-8-1 are his numbers.

DRINKS! Rajasthan's miracle and magician man of the season, Rahul Tewatia has also departed and so as their hopes. They need another 87 runs in 32 balls. Kolkata will now look to bowl them out under 112 to get their run rate better. Can they take the next 3 wickets for 7 or less runs?  Archer joins Gopal out in the middle. 

Match number 54 sees the face-off between Rajasthan and Kolkata in Dubai. Both these teams are still alive in the tournament and need a win to stay in contention. Smith's men were in top form against Punjab courtesy another special knock from Ben Stokes as they defeated Rahul’s men by 7 wickets. They are looking in good form and would hope that they continue the momentum and give themselves the best chance of qualifying for the playoffs. Kolkata, on the other hand, are on a 2-match losing run and cannot afford any more slip-ups. In the game against Chennai, their bowling came into question as they failed to defend a decent score and now need to win and hope that the other results go their way in order to stay alive. Who will come out on top in this do-or-die encounter?

Kolkata Knight Riders Team Squad -Eoin Morgan,Nitish Rana,Rahul Tripathi,Rinku Singh,Shubman Gill,Siddhesh Lad,Tom Banton,Andre Russell,Sunil Narine,Dinesh Karthik,Nikhil Naik,Tim Seifert,Chris Green,Kamlesh Nagarkoti,Kuldeep Yadav,Lockie Ferguson,Manimaran Siddharth,Pat Cummins,Prasidh Krishna,Sandeep Warrier,Shivam Mavi,Varun Chakravarthy

Rajasthan Royals Team Squad -Aniruddha Joshi,David Miller,Manan Vohra,Riyan Parag,Robin Uthappa,Steven Smith,Yashasvi Jaiswal,Ben Stokes,Mahipal Lomror,Rahul Tewatia,Shashank Singh,Tom Curran,Anuj Rawat,Jos Buttler,Sanju Samson,Akash Singh,Andrew Tye,Ankit Rajpoot,Jaydev Unadkat,Jofra Archer,Kartik Tyagi,Mayank Markande,Oshane Thomas,Shreyas Gopal,Varun Aaron