No magic for Holder, Narine as KKR knocked out

NEW DELHI, India, CMC – Neither Jason Holder nor Sunil Narine could conjure up the magic required as Kolkata Knight Riders produced a weak effort in a 22-run defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad, to bow out of the Indian Premier League yesterday.

Chasing a hardly-imposing 163 for victory at the Feroz Shah Kotla, KKR faltered badly to finish on 140 for eight, with Manish Pandey top-scoring with 36 from 28 balls and opener and captain Gautam Gambhir chipping in with a run-a-ball 28.

Holder, the West Indies Test and one-day captain, made just seven while Narine finished on one not out.

KKR were meandering on 69 for four in the 11th over before Pandey and Suryakumar Yadav (23) put on 46 for the fifth wicket. When they were separated, KKR required 48 runs from 25 deliveries but failed to find the acceleration they needed at the death.

Holder arrived in the 18th over with 38 runs needed from 16 balls. He struck a single boundary before falling to the penultimate ball of the match, holing out to long-off off Bhuvneshwar Kumar with the result long gone.

Earlier, Sunrisers reached 162 for eight off their 20 overs after being sent in, with veteran left-hander Yuvraj Singh top-scoring with 44 off 30 balls and Moises Henriques getting 31.

Seamer Holder claimed two for 33 but Narine was disappointing, finishing wicket-less from four overs which went for 35 runs.

Sunrisers will now take on Dwayne Smith’s Gujarat Lions in tomorrow’s final playoff game for a place in Sunday’s final against Royal Challengers Bangalore.