IPL 2018, Eliminator, KKR vs RR: 5 talking points

#2 Spinners turn the game around for KKR

Chawla picked up the key wickets of Rahul Tripathi and Sanju Samson tonight

With the triumvirate of Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav and Sunil Narine in their ranks, KKR has arguably the best spin bowling trio in the IPL and playing on their home turf at the Eden Gardens tonight, they made sure to make home advantage count.

Rajasthan Royals had made a good start in the powerplay overs and looked in total control at one stage before the KKR spinners put a stranglehold on the Royals scoring rate.

Ajinkya Rahane had already faced plenty of flak for his failure to adapt to the T20 format and made the same mistake yet again tonight. Sanju Samson, who is usually an aggressive player, was also guilty along with his skipper of letting the required run-rate go out of reach while building their partnership.

The Royals' batsmen were at fault no doubt, but one also needs to appreciate the manner in which the KKR spinners were able to exert that pressure on the scoreboard with their miserly bowling.

Narine went for 25 runs in his first two overs but came back strongly in his final two overs while Kuldeep conceded just 18 runs in his 4 overs while also picking up the wicket of Ajinkya Rahane.

It was Chawla though who made the most telling contribution picking up the crucial wickets of Rahul Tripathi and Sanju Samson.