Kuldeep Yadav’s brilliant spell that saw him take a wicket in each of his four overs helped Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) beat Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 6 wickets in an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 encounter at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday.
Kuldeep (4/20) flummoxed the Rajasthan batsmen with his wrist spin as the visitors were bowled out for 142 from 19 overs after being sent into bat. KKR chased down the modest target with two overs to spare with Chris Lynn top-scoring with a 42-ball 45 while skipper Dinesh Karthik remaining not out on 41 off 31 deliveries.
With the win, KKR have now inched closer to securing their berth in the playoffs. On the other hand, the defeat for RR have put their chances of qualifying for the playoffs in some serious jeopardy.
Here’s how the Twitterati reacted to the match:
And smiles to go…and keep from @DineshKarthik to me. Well done @imkuldeep18 with ball & interviews. @lynny50 who is getting sane! @prasidh43 @ShivamMavi23 & @SunilPNarine74 is Sunil! pic.twitter.com/UnCsvZbuqZ
— Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) May 15, 2018
Much needed 2 points for @KKRiders today. Have made their case stronger with this win but the battle is still on for the rest of the teams in contention. #KKRvRR #IPL2018
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) May 15, 2018
#KKR tweakers coming to the fore today, especially #Kuldeep ,always been their strength, arguably the best spin attack in this #IPL2018 #KKRvRR #BadriBytes
— S.Badrinath (@s_badrinath) May 15, 2018
Wonderful spell to pick 4 wickets, well bowled @imkuldeep18, Congratulations @KKRiders #KKRvRR
— Rajeev Shukla (@ShuklaRajiv) May 15, 2018
Jeet gaye ! (KKR) 😂 #KKRvRR
— Richa Singh (@richa_singh) May 15, 2018
Kuldeep Yadav is one of the bravest bowlers I have seen. Tosses the ball above batsmen’s eye line even in T20s. 👏👏👏🙏#KKRteam #IPL2018
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) May 16, 2018
Congratulations #KKR for the victory over RR!This has been possible due to excellent bowling performance by Kuldeep Yadav!Big clap for Kartik for his timely decision!
— Gautam Gangopadhyay (@GautamGangopad3) May 16, 2018
4 wickets for Kuldeep Yadav. Tossing it up beautifully. So good to see. And, sadly, will count as a horror season with the bat for Stokes.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 15, 2018
Yet another failure for #Stokes this #IPL2018. Big collapse by #RR. #KuldeepYadav finishes with 4-20 from 4ovs, with all the key wkts👌👏.. #KKRvsRR
— Kaushik LM (@LMKMovieManiac) May 15, 2018
Kuldeep Yadav, you beauty 😍#IPL2018 #KKRvRR #RRvKKR pic.twitter.com/K6imWh3KvV
— CricketTimes.com (@CricketTimesHQ) May 15, 2018
Wow @DineshKarthik fantastic finishes the game #KKRvRR
— sachikant swain (@sachikantswain) May 15, 2018
KKR seems to have decided on no NRR madness in this chase. Secure this win, and aim to win the next one to get to 16 and qualify.
— Gaurav Kapur (@gauravkapur) May 15, 2018
Superb win by #KKR @KKRiders #KKRHaiTaiyaar to move ahead in the points table and be a step ahead towards the playoffs. Well played @DineshKarthik once again #KKRvRR #IPL2018 #IPL11 #VIVOIPL
— Sayantan Dhar (@ImSayonton) May 15, 2018
Whenever Karthik has scored 20-plus runs against RR in an IPL match, his team has won eight out of 10 matches. (80%)#KKRvRR
— Umang Pabari (@UPStatsman) May 15, 2018
Dinesh Karthik in successful run-chases in IPL 2018:
35*(29), 42*(23), 23(10), 45*(18), 41*(31)(today)#KKRvRR #IPL11
— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) May 15, 2018
Rajasthan Royals and Shahid Afridi are similar. They did something great in their first year and disappointed the fans for rest of the years.
— Karan Talwar (@BollywoodGandu) May 15, 2018
So, Sunday is a must-win game for #RR. Even after that, it will have to depend on other facts to book a playoff berth. #RRvKKR
— Shayan Acharya (@ShayanAcharya) May 15, 2018
