IPL 2021, KKR vs DC: Rahul Tripathi's Winning Six Help Kolkata Crush Delhi To Storm Into Final

Delhi had almost pulled off a miracle tonight but Rahul Tripathi managed to hold his nerves and hit veteran spinner Ashwin for a huge six over long-off to ensure Kolkata fans sleep peacefully tonight.

New Delhi: Varun Chakaravarthy's (2/26) magical spell, Venkatesh Iyer (55) and Shubman Gill (46) solid 96-run partnership off 74 balls all would have gone in vain if Rahul Tripathi wouldn't have smoked the match-winning six to help Kolkata Knight Riders shock table-toppers Delhi Capitals by three wickets at Sharjah. Kolkata have stormed into IPL 2021 final after seven years where they will lock horns with mighty Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on October 15.

Delhi bowlers bowled their hearts out to take some quick wickets in last two to three overs and it turned the game upside down. From needing 11 runs from 18 balls to needing six runs off 2 ball, Delhi had almost pulled off a miracle tonight but Rahul Tripathi somehow managed to hold his nerves and hit veteran spinner R Ashwin for a huge six over long-off to ensure Kolkata fans sleep peacefully tonight.

Earlier, Kolkata won the toss and decided to bowl first. Openers Prithvi Shaw And Shikhar Dhawan helped Delhi get off to a great start. However, Varun Chakravarthy departed Shaw to pull Kolkata back into the match.

Post Shaw's dismissal, Stoinis and Dhawan steadied innings and were scoring runs at ease until Shivam Mavi's lethal delivery knocked Stoinis' stumps to get him clean bowled for 18 and break their 38-run stand for third wicket.

KKR bowlers managed to maintain their grip over Delhi and this further resulted in Rishabh Pant hitting a poorly-timed shot to lose his crucial wicket for just 6. A late cameo from Shimron Hetmyer and Shreyas Iyer helped Delhi cross the 130-run mark.

Delhi Capitals (Playing XI): Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Avesh Khan, Anrich Nortje

Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan(c), Dinesh Karthik(w), Sunil Narine, Shakib Al Hasan, Lockie Ferguson, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakaravarthy