As it happened - IPL 2021 Eliminator, Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Sharjah

What a turnaround this continues to be for KKR. Began the UAE leg in seventh place and now they're one win away from a shot at the title. And this win was a true testament to their method: all the attacking had been done up front, and Narine's promotion up the order meant there wasn't much left to do at the end other than some sensible batting from two leaders in Eoin Morgan and Shakib Al Hasan. A team that continues to innovate and push the boundaries in the IPL, squeezing out the best from everyone they employ. And now, looking like the team to beat with 6 wins out of 8 in the UAE. Delhi Capitals won't have it easy in Sharjah when they come back for Qualifier 2.

At the other end is both an end and a beginning for RCB. Virat Kohli relinquishes captaincy and RCB go out in a manner that has become synonymous with them through his time. He might have been itching to go out with a title, but the high for him as captain will continue to remain the 2016 season when they made the final in a season in which he made 973 runs. It's been up and down, but for the most part the same flavour for RCB since then with the reliance on a top-heavy batting. A poor over from an overseas allrounder has haunted them before and it does yet again, even in a year when they had managed to make serious amends to their death-bowling woes. Tonight, of course, that wasn't the issue. The batting came apart against some top-tier bowling and they have been ousted by one of the great all-round performances in the history of this tournament. Kohli says he'll be back for RCB next season, and will see out his career with them. It will be in an entirely new environment when it does happen.

That is all from the Live Blog tonight. Thanks for joining us and we'll see you soon.

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It's borderline amusing at this point. The Sunil Narine batting experiment is done for the most part - teams have figured him out, he no longer opens innings for KKR or anywhere else. He doesn't often bat too much lately. But against RCB, he is <;b>always</b> a good bet. This is a team that hasn't been able to figure him out for four years now. Look at the numbers below (when Narine was batting on 21 off 7) to see how much bigger Narine becomes against RCB in comparison to the rest of his career.

The only time Royal Challengers looked close to dominant against spin during their batting innings is when AB de Villiers brought out the reverse sweep against Sunil Narine for the boundary. And in this innings for KKR, Nitish Rana has brought it out to perfect effect against Glenn Maxwell. The best players of spin on tough surfaces are those with both fast hands and fast feet. The reverse sweep in T20 cricket is a new addition to that old adage, and those who have used the reverse sweep successfully tonight have endorsed it.