Eoin Morgan’s side Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are enjoying a massive reversal of fortunes in the second leg of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 after enduring a disastrous first half in India earlier this year.
KKR became only the third team after Chennai Super Kings (2013) and SunRisers Hyderabad (2018) to reach the final of the IPL after winning the Eliminator and Qualifier.
KKR defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Monday’s Eliminator, Virat Kohli’s hopes of winning an IPL title with his longstanding franchise.
They followed it with a three-wicket win over Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 2 to enter the IPL final since 2014.
Delhi Capitals, who topped the league stage with as many as 10 wins for a total of 20 points, has failed to win a match, while defending less than 150.
Since Australian great Ricky Ponting took over as their coach, Delhi Capitals have grown from strength to strength as they finished second runners up in the 2019 edition before reaching the summit clash last year. This year their aim was to do one better and even started the second leg with some flair, but they lost the momentum in the final stage of the tournament.
Interestingly, the two-times champions KKR have never lost a final match. In 2012, they defeated MS Dhoni-led CSK by five wickets with Manvinder Bisla scoring a breathtaking 89 off just 48 balls.
In 2014, KKR defeated Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) by three wickets. Wriddhiman Saha (115 not out) scored a scintillating century but his knock went in vain as Manish Pandey (94) and some lusty hitting down the order by Piyush Chawla helped KKR to win the match by three wickets.
