The Eliminator match of the Vivo IPL 2018, between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals, began with the Kolkata Knight Riders batting first, Despite losing openers Sunil Narine and Lynn as well as Robin Uthappa and the promising Nitish Rana early, with Gowtham wrecking the batting lineup, Skipper Karthik held firm.
Dinesh Karthik scored a gutsy 52(38b,4x4,2x6), while Shubman Gill's cameo 28(17), and Andre Russell's quickfire 49*(25b,3x4,5x6), propelled KKR to a formidable 169/7. The Rajasthan Royals batting began, with skipper Rahane scoring a slow 46(41), and Tripathi departing earlier.
While Sanju Samson gave some hopes, scoring a 50(38b,4x4,26), it wasn't just enough to take the Rajasthan Royals to a victory. With Stuart Binny and Gowtham failing to negotiate the KKR bowlers, Rajasthan Royals innings ended at 144/4, as Kolkata Knight Riders cruised to a 25 run victory.
