Kolkata reach fourth IPL final

AHMEDABAD, India (CMC):

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) reached the final of the Indian Premier League with the West Indies pair of all-rounder Andre Russell and retired off-spinner Sunil Narine played supporting roles only in their eight-wicket win against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) yesterday.

The ICC Men's Twenty20 World Cup-bound Russell took one for 15 from 1.3 overs, and Narine took one for 40 from four overs, and SRH were bowled out for 159 in 19.3 overs after they won the toss and decided to bat in the qualification final at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

Narine, opening the batting, made 21, but Russell did not bat, and KKR cruised to victory on the backs of an unbeaten 58 from their captain Shreyas Iyer and 51 not out from Venkatesh Iyer to enable the two-time champions to reach the final for the fourth time.

Sherfane Rutherford, another West Indies all-rounder selected for the T20 World Cup to be staged from June 1 in the Caribbean and the United States, is also part of the KKR roster, but he did not play in the qualification final.

World Cup-bound Australia left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc bagged three for 34 from four overs and was the pick of the KKR bowlers, and leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy supported with two for 26 from his four overs, and they led the demolition of the SRH batting.

Rahul Tripathi led the way for SRH with 55 from 35 balls, World Cup-bound South Africa wicketkeeper-batsman Heinrich Klaasen hit 32, and World Cup-bound Australia fast bowler Pat Cummins added some respectability with 30.

KKR were 63 for one at the close of the Power Play after World Cup-bound Afghanistan wicketkeeper-batsman Rahmanullah Gurbaz fell for 23 in the fourth over, and they were 67 for two when they lost Narine to Cummins in the seventh over.

Shreyas joined his namesake Venkatesh, and they shared an unbroken third wicket stand of 97 that formalised the result with 38 balls remaining.

While KKR prepare for the final on Sunday at the Chidambaram Stadium, SRH have another opportunity to get to the title match when they play in the preliminary final on Thursday at the same venue.

They face the winners of the elimination final between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Rajasthan Royals on Wednesday at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

The Royals roster includes West Indies T20 World Cup captain Rovman Powell and World Cup-bound teammate Shimron Hetmyer, and West Indies T20 World Cup vice-captain and strike bowler Alzarri Joseph is on the RCB roster.