IPL-Playoffs: All-round Rashid propels Hyderabad into final

Kolkata, May 25 - Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan starred with bat and ball to help Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) fix a date with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Sunday's final after beating Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 13 runs in the

Sunrisers Hyderabad (Image - IANS)

Coming in to bat when Sunrisers were still below par on 134/6, Afghanistan's Rashid smoked two fours and four sixes to stitch together a 36-run unbroken 8th wicket stand off 11 balls with Bhuvneshwar (5 not out) as 50 runs came in the final three overs.

In the last over, Prasidh Krishna (0/56) conceded 24 runs with Rashid hitting a four and two sixes, his second one an exquisite flick over deep backward square leg.

Kuldeep had previously removed in-form batsmen Dhawan (34; 24b; 4x4, 1x6) and captain Williamson (3) to expose Sunrisers' weak middle order as the visitors clawed to 79/2 in 10 overs.

The left-arm spinner was then involved in a run out off his own bowling to get rid of Al Hasan (28; 24b; 4x4) -- playing in place of Manish Pandey -- in the 16th over to further dent Sunrisers' endeavour.

Mystery spinner Sunil Narine (1/24) and leggie Piyush Chawla (1/22) were also good in the middle overs to throw a spanner in the works of their rivals. The league leaders could never recover from there in the final few overs, until Rashid came to the party.

Brief scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 161/9 in 20 overs (Chris Lynn 48, Shubman Gill 30; Rashid Khan 3/19, Carlos Brathwaite 2/16, Sidharth Kaul 2/32) lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad 174/7 in 20 overs (Wriddhiman Saha 35, Shikhar Dhawan 34, Rashid Khan 34, Kuldeep Yadav 2/29).

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IANS