DUBAI: Rahul Tripathi hit a six off the penultimate ball Wednesday to see Kolkata Knight Riders to victory over Delhi Capitals and into the Indian Premier League final.
On a night of heartache, Delhi topped the eight team table but failed to reach the final despite a late comeback when they took four Kolkata wickets in 10 balls including England captain Eoin Morgan.
As the chase for Delhi’s 135 for five became increasingly desparate, Tripathi hit the ball over the boundary to lead Kolkata to victory in Sharjah with 135 for seven and just one ball to spare.
The Kolkata players erupted in joy. They were fourth in the table but still reached the final after beating Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore and now Delhi in the playoffs.
“We are delighted to get over the line,” said Morgan.
“We are in the entertainment business and needed to play some entertaining cricket. Six off two and you would say the odds are for the bowling side. But Tripathi has done it for us so many times.”
Morgan said his team would “dissect” the nervy finish before they play three-time champions Chennai Super Kings in the final on Friday.
“It should’ve been a lot easier after the start we got,” he admitted.
Kolkata bowled brilliantly to restrict Delhi’s normally aggressive batting line up.
Varun Chakravarty claimed the key wickets of openers Prithvi Shaw and top scorer Shikhar Dhawan whose 36 off 39 balls gave Delhi a hope of putting up a competitive score.
But Chakravarty who gave away just 26 runs, fellow pacer Lockie Ferguson who also conceded only 26, smothered the Delhi batters.
Marcus Stoinis hit 18 before he was bowled by Shivam Mari and Shimron Hetmyer made 17 off 10 balls, including two lusty sixes, but no one could build the crucial big partnership with Dhawan.
Kolkata seemed to be strolling to victory when Shubman Gill (46) and Venkatesh Iyer (55) put on 96 for the first wicket.
But after they went only Nitish Rana (13) and Tripathi (12) managed to score.
Wicketkeeper Dinesh Khartik, Morgan, Bangladesh star Shakib Al Hasan and Sunil Narine all went for ducks in a dramatic final three overs.
Ravichandran Ashwin took two wickets in consecutive balls in the 20th over but Tripathi hit the winning six on the hat-trick ball to secure the win.
“The win for the team was very important,” said Tripathi. “We had one or two tough overs and I never thought it would go so deep.”
Delhi captain Rishabh Pant fought back tears after the game.
“I don’t have words to express at the moment,” he said.
“We just kept believing and tried to stay in the game as long as possible.
“The bowlers nearly pulled it back, but it’s unfortunate that it didn’t go our way.
“They bowled very well in the middle-overs, we got stuck and couldn’t rotate strike. Delhi Capitals are known to be positive and hopefully we’ll come back better next season.”
Winning five of their last seven games, Kolkata put on an extraordinary resurgence in the second half of the IPL — switched to the United Arab Emirates as a coronavirus precaution — to reach the final.
Morgan said the win had been “a nice insight into our team culture — the young guys coming in feel free to express themselves” and now there are “expectations” around the squad going into the final.
Kolkata Knight Riders win thriller versus Delhi Capitals to reach IPL final
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Kolkata Knight Riders win thriller versus Delhi Capitals to reach IPL final
- Winning five of their last seven games, Kolkata put on an extraordinary resurgence in the second half of the IPL
Nabucco Al-Maury has second crack at glory on Saudi Cup weekend
- French challenger aiming to go one better in the $1.5m Group 1 Al-Mneefah Cup
RIYADH: French raider Nabucco Al-Maury (FR) returns to Riyadh on Feb. 13 hoping to go one better than last year when finishing runner-up to RB Kingmaker (US) in the $1.5-million group one Al-Mneefah Cup, presented by the Ministry of Culture.
Trained in 2025 by Hamad Al-Jehani, the 6-year-old son of Assy (QA) joined the yard of Xavier Thomas-Demeaulte in Mont-de-Marsan last spring where he has continued to thrive.
Although he has not managed to reach the top step of the podium in the last couple of seasons, he has remained consistent. His last run in the group one The President Cup in December in Abu Dhabi, behind local champion HM Alchahine (FR), was particularly eye-catching.
“That was a really good performance,” said the French handler, who will also saddle the mare Lacaro du Croate (FR) in the 2,100-meter turf race.
“I didn’t train Nabucco Al-Maury when he came to Riyadh last year. He arrived in my yard in the spring, and we have progressively worked our way to the top.
“He has improved with each of his runs. His second place behind HM Alchahine was very good. We beat RB Kingmaker quite easily, which we hadn’t done before, so that was a great result.”
The Helal & Tahnon Alalawi-trained RB Kingmaker (US) will again feature amongst his opponents in the Al-Mneefah Cup. “I know that he is in it,” said the trainer.
“We beat him quite easily in Abu Dhabi, but he probably needed that race and we know he runs well in Riyadh.
“Maybe he will transform himself there. And I know that there is the very good mare of Alban de Mieulle, RB Mary Lylah (US), in the field, so we shall see.”
The only French-based trainer with runners in the two events for Purebred Arabians this year, he is also looking forward to saddling the 5-year-old mare Lacaro du Croate in the Al-Mneefah.
A winner of the group one Criterium des Pouliches – Wathba Stallions at La Teste in France last July, she has just made her seasonal reappearance in a conditions race at Pau where she finished second to dual Triple Crown champion Al-Ghadeer (FR).
“It was a good performance,” added the trainer. “She only saw Al-Ghadeer’s behind but that was to be expected. He did his job, she did hers. In fact, she did what we asked her to do.”
With exceptionally heavy rainfalls continuing across the southwest of France, their trainer decided last week to take both contenders to the Pau racecourse for a final blow-out.
“It’s just terrible how much rain we have had. Last weekend I was supposed to go away but then decided, no, I’m taking my horsebox and I’m going to drive to Pau to work them properly.
“Luckily, the jockeys were great and went along with my plan. They enjoyed a good gallop and are in good order.”
While Nabucco Al-Maury and Lacaro du Croate had to brave the difficult weather in France, Moshrif (FR), who is Thomas-Demeaulte’s runner in the $2 million group one Obaiya Arabian Classic, presented by Al-Hammadi Hospitals, has enjoyed the ambient temperatures in Riyadh.
“He has been in Riyadh for a while,” said the trainer. “We took him there for the prep race on Jan. 9, where he finished fifth. I hadn’t worked him a lot since he won his race in Morocco last year, so he wasn’t 100 percent fit yet, but it was still a good performance.”
The 8-year-old is a regular in Riyadh where he was the runner-up to the great Tilal Al-Khalediah in the 2024 running of the Al-Mneefah Cup, but this time he will tackle top-class opposition on dirt.
“He proved when ran in January that he can handle the dirt. He has been in Riyadh since that last run and I went out there 10 days ago to see how he was. He is in good form and I was very happy with him,” added Thomas-Demeaulte.
