T20 2018: Rashid Khan rocks it!

Hyderabad spinner Rashid Khan is ecstatic after dismissing Kolkata's Robin Uthappa at Eden Garden in Kolkata yesterday. Pics/PTI

An irrepressible Rashid Khan propelled Hyderabad to Sunday's summit showdown with Chennais as his allround display at the Eden Gardens yesterday had Kolkata fall 14 short of a 175-run target. The Afghan, arguably the best spinner on show in T20, was all over Qualifier 2. Hitting four sixes and a couple of boundaries in a 10-ball 34, he first took his team to a challenging 174 for seven and then produced another of his magical bowling performances to end with figures that read 4-0-19-3. He bowled the 15th over when Kolkata were 118-6.

Though youngsters Shubman Gill and Shivam Mavi put in a note of defiance towards the end, it was really the beginning of the end. Rashid removed both Mavi and Gill by catching them at deep mid-wicket, and had earlier broken a blossoming second-wicket partnership between Chris Lynn and Nitish Rana by having the latter run out with a flat throw from the deep. Rana was a trifle unlucky as he slipped while turning the second.

Hyderabad's Siddarth Kaul celebrates the wicket of Kolkata's Sunil Narine

Robin Uthappa, Andre Russell and Lynn were Rashid's scalps last night - Uthappa needlessly going for a reverse sweep, while Lynn and Russell were beaten by sheer brilliance. Lynn, who scored 48 off 31 with six boundaries and a couple of sixes, had held the Kolkata innings together. Skipper Dinesh Karthik, who had been steadying the ship throughout the season, was around too long, deceived by a Shakib arm-ball.

All this after the Kolkata had got off to a brisk start with Sunil Narine and Lynn combining for a 40-run stand. Narine had scored 26 of them in the 13 falls he faced, hitting four boundaries and a six. In a departure from the trend, Kolkata didn't fill all four foreigner's slots, replacing Javon Searles with the young Mavi.

Earlier, put into bat, Hyderabad made a sedate start. Wriddhiman Saha, back after sitting out five matches, took time to come to terms with Mavi's pace. He was dropped in Mavi's second over - Karthik failing to glove the skier with Saha on five. It was left to Dhawan to force the pace. A flicked six over long-leg in the second over spelt promise but, despite a couple of fours from Saha in the fifth over, Hyderabad couldn't quite break the shackles. Powerplay produced just 45, with only 22 of them coming from boundaries.

Things turned bad to worse when Kuldeep Yadav removed Dhawan and Kane Williamson in his first over - the left-hander wrapped in front as he played across, while the skipper edged a wrong 'un that he knew very little about.

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