How rain played spoilsport and how
Team News
One of the changes that the Gambhir-led unit is fielding is that the local man Manish Pandey misses out due to an injury. Suryakumar Yadav replaces Colin de Grandhomme, Piyush Chawla, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Ishank Jaggi find a place in the starting eleven.
Yuvraj is in the side, we guessed that when we saw him swinging the willow some time back. Chris Jordan gets his first game and that too in a high-stakes game like that of the Eliminator. Kane Williamson and Bipul Sharma are in as well.
Toss Time, Folks
Kolkata Knight Riders have won the toss and elected to bowl
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"No RCB, No Crowd? See only empty seats everywhere as we gear up for the toss. And this is an eliminator we're talking about! Or maybe it's the rain in other parts of the city. Also, weekday," says Kaushik..
Both the Afghan boys are bowling on the side wickets now. Trent Boult is marking his run-up now.
Kaushik tells us that it rained a while back but it is all dry at the moment. Kane Williamson was out in the middle nice and early for some throw downs, and Vijay Shankar joined him soon.
Not much activity from the KKR boys. Only the local boy, Robin Uthappa seems to be taking some throwdowns right now. Boy, wouldn't he want to do well in front of his home crowd? Wait, Kaushik pings almost immediately, "There's hardly anyone in the stands."
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The Indian Premier League recognises not just the student who comes first, but also the one who comes second in the examination. Hence, the privileges are shared. Well, let me make that a little easier. The first two teams faced off in the first qualifier and Mumbai Indians, who lost it, still get that second chance to make it to the final. Not so much the case with teams coming third and fourth - Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders, with one of them heading back home tonight.
While the Sunrisers raised their stocks in their last two outings to secure a place in the Top 4, Kolkata banked heavily on their strong start and superior net run-rate to sneak in despite two poor losses towards the end of their league campaign. Sunrisers' presence can be felt in the top run-getters and top wicket-takers list. While David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan sit pretty at the top with 604 and 468 runs respectively, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rashid Khan feature in the top five with 25 and 17 wickets to their credit.
For a long time, KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir had company in the Top 5 with fellow teammates Robin Uthappa and Manish Pandey - both of who have slipped out now. But KKR find renewed hopes with Chris Lynn at the top, who just hasn't lost his touch, pre and post the injury break. But the problems lie elsewhere. KKR will need to answer some important questions. The momentum has faded away at the business end of the tournament. Has Sunil Narine as an opener reached his sell-by date?
All those questions have been answered by our man, Kaushik Rangarajan, in his preview. He is at the ground today and will keep chipping in with all that he sees. He is already sending in a lot of stuff. Let me try and put them up one by one..
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