IPL 2021: Qualifier 2: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Delhi Capitals: Road to playoffs, top performers

Sharjah, Oct 11: Sunil Narine produced one of his finest all-round performances to help Kolkata Knight Riders enter the IPL 2021 Qualifier 2 following an emphatic four-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Eliminator here on Monday (October 11). KKR will now meet Delhi Capitals in the second Qualifier on Wednesday (October 13) to decide Chennai Super Kings' rivals for the summit clash on October 15.

Narine showed glimpses of his 'old mystery' with the ball and then topped it up with his cameo of 15-ball 26. His all-round skills helped Eoin Morgan-led side dash Virat Kohli's dream of winning an IPL trophy while leading the RCB.

Narine singlehandedly knocked out Kohli and his band with bowling figures of 4 for 21. It was his three sixes in that Dan Christian over which made a tricky chase of 139 slightly easier in the end. KKR got home with two balls to spare.

Kohli, who was captaining RCB for the last time, did make a contentious decision by opting to bat on a sluggish surface which also offered turn. Narine (4/21) sent RCB's biggest guns back in the dug-out as Kohli, AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell had no answer to his turning deliveries under pressure situation.

Here's all you need to know about Qualifier 2 between Delhi Capitals:

KKR's road to Qualifier 2:

07 Oct - Kolkata Knight Riders beat Rajasthan Royals by 86 runs

03 Oct - Kolkata Knight Riders beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 6 wickets

01 Oct - Kolkata Knight Riders lose to Punjab Kings by 5 wickets

28 Sep - Kolkata Knight Riders beat Delhi Capitals by 3 wickets

26 Sep - Chennai Super Kings beat KKR by 2 wickets

23 Sep - Kolkata Knight Riders beat MI by 7 wickets

20 Sep - Kolkata Knight Riders beat RCB won by 9 wickets

Despite having a disastrous first half to the IPL 2021, KKR qualified for the playoffs with 14 points (7 wins and 7 losses) but had a better net run rate of 0.587 than Mumbai Indians (0.116). In Eliminator on October 11, KKR defeated RCB by 4 wickets.

Delhi Capitals's road to Qualifier 2:

The Rishabh Pant-led Delhi Capitals side finished the league stage at the top with 20 points (10 wins, 4 losses). In the UAE-leg of IPL 2021, Delhi Capitals secured five wins out of seven games. The matches which Delhi Capital lost in the second phase of the tournament were the three-wicket defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders on September 28 and a 7-wicket loss against RCB on October 8. They lost to Chennai Super Kings by 4 wickets in Qualifier 1 on Sunday (October 10) in Dubai.

Star performers:

Delhi Capitals:

Most Runs in the season - Shikhar Dhawan - 551 runs

Most Wickets in the season - Avesh Khan 23 wickets

Kolkata Knight Riders:

Most Runs in the season - Rahul Tripathi - 393 runs

Most Wickets in the season - Varun Chakravarthy - 16 wickets

Senior West Indies spinner Sunil Narine's all-round skills have also won games to KKR. The mystery spinner reminded the cricketing world of Narine of old and emerged the match-winner in the all-important eliminator.

Qualifier 2: Venue, Timing, Channel, Live Streaming Details

Kolkata Knight Riders (Winner of Eliminator) will face the losing side of Qualifier 1 (Delhi Capitals) in Qualifier 2 on Wednesday (October 13) at Sharjah.

Timings: The match will start at 7:30 PM IST.

TV Channels: StarSports Network

Live Streaming: Disney + Hotstar VIP.