Kolkata Knight Riders take on Rajasthan Royals in the Eliminator clash of the IPL at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday evening. In a loser-goes-home contest, Dinesh Karthik-led Knight Riders will enjoy the advantage of playing on their home ground.

Rajasthan skipper Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and elected to bowl first in the crunch clash. In the IPL this year, chasing teams have won five out of seven clashes at Eden Gardens. Krishnappa Gowtham put Kolkata under pressure immediately with the wicket of Sunil Narine off the second ball of the match itself.  The off-spinner removed Robin Uthappa in his next over while Jofra Archer dismissed Nitish Rana in the fourth over to reduce the Knight Riders to 24-3.

Chris Lynn was next to fall for 18 (22) when he presented a simple return catch to spinner Shreyas Gopal. Then, Kolkata skipper Dinesh Karthik formed a handy partnership with Shubman Gill on his way to a 35-ball half-century before Andre Rusell’s unbeaten cameo of 49 (35) powered the Knight Riders to 169-7 in their 20 overs.

In reply, openers Ajinkya Rahane and Rahul Tripathi got Rajasthan off to a strong start in their chase of 170. Tripathi fell for 20 after a 43-run stand before Sanju Samson joined Rahane at the crease. The two batsmen had taken Rajashtan Royals to 90-1 at the end of 11 overs with Rahane batting on 39.

The complexion of the match completely changed in the second-half of Rajasthan’s innings as Kolkata’s spinners took charge. Rahane was dismissed for 46 by Kuldeep Yadav while Samson fell for 50 to Sunil Narine as Rajasthan succumbed to a 25-run defeat in the end.