Bangladesh and Kolkata Knight Riders’ all-rounder Shakib al-Hasan, a street-smart batsman, provided KKR with the one release shot to ease the pressure in a tense chase to help Kolkata Knight Riders to victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore during the eliminator match in Sharjah on Monday.
Narine took four wickets as Kolkata kept down Bangalore to 138-7 and then hit 26 off 15 balls in the team's chase that was completed with two balls to spare. Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan hit the winning run with skipper Eoin Morgan at the other end as Kolkata booked a meeting with Delhi Capitals in the second qualifier on Wednesday.
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In an intense chase, RCB’s Mohammed Siraj had pierced out the game-changer Sunil Narine and Dinesh Kartik in a space of three balls and though the equation was a run a ball, scoring runs on the slow wicket was tricky. Virat Kohli reposed faith in medium pacer Dan Christian who came up with a slow ball.
Shakib may have been expecting it as he moved across off stump and helped the ball over the fielder inside the circle. Shakib had no pace to work with and there was danger of it popping up for an easy catch if he mistimed it. But on seeing the ball reach the boundary, he turned around to face captain Eoin Morgan and shrugged his shoulders. Easy-peasy skipper is what he seemed to be saying with a smile.
