Tripathi’s penultimate ball six gives KKR thrilling win

Rahul Tripathi smashed a six in the penultimate ball as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) beat Delhi Capitals (DC) by three wickets in the Qualifier 2 of IPL 2021 at Sharjah Cricket Ground on Wednesday to set up a title clash with Chennai Super Kings.

Opting to bowl, KKR dished out another superlative bowling display to restrict Delhi Capitals to 135 for 5 on a slow Sharjah track.

Venkatesh Iyer (55) and Shubman Gill (46) then shared 96 runs for the opening wicket but KKR lost five wickets, adding just seven runs to stare at defeat.

Tripathi then smashed the much-needed six to snatch win from the jaws of defeat.
Earlier, invited to bat, DC opener Shikhar Dhawan struggled his way to a 39-ball 36 but couldn’t break the shackles. Prithvi Shaw (18) looked good in his brief stay, while comeback man Marcus Stoinis (18) got the start but couldn’t capitalise on it.

In the 18th over, Shimron Hetmyer (17) unleashed two sixes off Lockie Ferguson after getting a second lease of life, while Shreyas Iyer (30 not out) hit a four and a last-ball six in the 20th over to take DC to a competitive score.

Brief scores 
Delhi Capitals 135 for in 20 overs (S Dhawan 36, S Iyer 30, V Chakaravarthy 2-26)
Kolkata Knight Riders 136 for 7 in 19.5 overs (V Iyer 55, S Gill 46, R Ashwin 3-27)