KKR to face Sunrisers for spot in the final
Chasing 170, Rajasthan Royals fell behind the asking rate in the middle overs and never recovered
With early starts - 7pm - for the playoffs, the dew that comes down later has become a more of a factor, but on the night the team bowling first had another advantage: the pitch, for the early stages, retained some moisture from overnight rain. Royals' spinners made the most of it with turn and sticky bounce. K Gowtham, the hope for fingerspinners this season, took out Sunil Narine and Robin Uthappa. Legspinner Shreyas Gopal accounted for Chris Lynn, and Nitsh Rana's short-ball problems continued. Loosing their fourth wicket in the eight over, KKR needed a bit of a partnership - only long enough to make sure Russell didn't have to play a long innings.
About 30-40 minutes into the match, the pitch began to ease out, at least in terms of variable pace off the surface, and Karthik and Shubhman Gill batted with purpose. They scored 31 in the next five overs without taking a risk, and once Gopal made a mistake they both pounced on him, taking 20 off the 14th over.
Russell has taken the art of six-hitting to another level. No matter what length you bowl, no matter if you beat him the change of pace, he always sets himself up for a baseball-style hit down the ground and backs himself to clear the field. Twice in his onslaught Russell was done in. First a quick bouncer from Ben Laughlin had him playing without even looking at the ball, but he swung with all his might and the top edge flew for a comfortable six. Joffra Archer then had him playing a slower bouncer too early but he didn't bother, he just flat-batted it over long-off for another six. Russell's 49 off 25 gave Knight Riders what looked like a par total.
When Rahul Tripathi and Rahane came out to bat, the ball began to skid through nicely, making it easier for them to time their strokes. Tripathi slogged Sunil Narine for two sixes in his first over, and Rahane looked comfortable against the quicks. While Piyush Chawla had Tripathi in the sixth over, 51 for 1 was a good Powerplay score when chasing 170.
What a disappointing end this is, wasted to many balls & didn't take the game on in the middle. That game was there to win & the boys should have got over the line ! Very proud of the entire squad though as they tried their best ! Just hurts as that's a game we should have won !
— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) May 23, 2018
Rahane came into the match with a negative Smart Strike Rate, which - as per ESPNcricinfo's new metrics to make sense of T20 numbers - meant his aggregate of 324 was actually worth 40 fewer runs. He was without Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes. This was a weird position for him to be in. Should he play the normal T20 game, which is not his best bet, especially when the bowling is slow? Or should he take all the responsibility and look to bat deep? Rahane chose the latter, and even as Sanju Samson batted more fluently at the other end, Rahane just couldn't get out of the quick sand.
Sidharth Monga is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo