RCB vs KKR Eliminator, IPL 2021 Highlights: Narine helps KKR beat RCB by 4 wickets

And Christian has been hit for a 4 by Shakib. The pressure has lifted. And it's all over. KKR has beaten RCB by 4 wickets

Garton to bowl the penultimate over. Just 5 from it. KKR need 7 from 6 balls in the last over. KKR 132/6 after 19 overs

And now Karthik is gone. KKR might just throw this one away. RCB right back in it. It's taken upstairs and it's finally given out. KKR in a mess. KKR 126/6 after 17.4 overs.

Twist in the tale ?

Has @mdsirajofficial turned this game on its head?

Two strikes in an over for @RCBTweets. ? ?#KKR lose Sunil Narine and Dinesh Karthik in the 18th over. #VIVOIPL | #RCBvKKR | #Eliminator

Follow the match ? https://t.co/PoJeTfVJ6Z pic.twitter.com/aqn8qiux3t

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 11, 2021

Siraj to finish his spell now. And he takes the wicket of Narine. Surely not? 150 T20 wickets for Siraj as he bowled him Narine goes for 26. KKR 125/5 after 17.2 overs

Patel comes in to bowl his last over of the match. And DDP has dropped a catch. Can he get number 33? Nope. Very nice over to finish though. Just 4 off it. KKR 124/4 after 17 overs.

Katthik hits a four to start Maxwell's over. Knights keep chipping away. 8 runs off this over. KKR 120/4 after 16 overs.

And Rana is taken now. Chahal picks up another wicket. Rana going for a poor-shot choice, giving RCB a sniff in. KKR 110/4 after 14.2 overs.

Narine hits back to back sixers!!! What a night this man is having. First with the ball, now with the ball. Christain is distraught. And another 6 to finish the over. And a wide. Oh dear! Christian is not having the best of overs. 22 runs off this one. KKR 101/3 after 12 overs.

And Patel has taken Iyer. Just as the partnership was forming. RCB needed this wicket. That is 32 wickets for Harshal this season, and he ties with Bravo for most wickets in an IPL season. Bharat dives to his right to take this. KKR 79/3 after 11 overs.

And Rana has picked it up. A huge 6 off Maxwell.What a reverse sweep!! And Rana ends the over with a 4. Giving Maxwell the Maxwell treatment. 13 off this over. KKR 73/2 after 10 overs.

Chahal is brought back to bowl the 9th over. Quiet overs for KKR since Gill departed. Weirdly mirroring the RCB innings. Just 4 off this over. KKR 61/2 after 9 overs.

Chahal is brought into the attack. And he gets Iyer. Second wicket down. Game is turning. Huge appeal for leg before, but not given. Kohli reviews. The ball strikes Tripathi's front pad as he looks to jab at that but is beaten. Hits him just above his knee after pitching on a good length outside off, and turning sharply into him. No inside edge is confirmed by UltraEdge. And replays show the ball would have taken the leg stump. KKR 53/2 after 7 overs.

Final over of the powerplay. Can RCB do some damage to KKR by taking one of these openers or will KKR inflict more damage to the Royal Challengers. Patel to attack. And that's what they needed. Gill tries to hit it and he goes. KKR 41/1 after 5.2 overs

Gill starts Garton's over with a 4. Beautiful shot. Straight down the field. And another one. Explosive. Just explosive. And another to follow. This one was lucky. It's 3 fours in a row. Vey good over for KKR. 15 off this one. KKR 34/0 after 4 overs.

Garton in to bowl the second over. And a Sixxxxxxxxxxx. Thought it would be a slow over but oh no. Iyer puts it over the boundary. First six of the match if you can believe it. KKR 16/0 after 2 overs.

Gill hits a 4 right off the bat. Siraj is clobbered in the 4th ball of the first over.  7 off the over. KKR 7/0 after 1 over.

Siraj will start with the new ball. As usual, Knight Riders will expect some stability from Gill and Iyer.

It was the slowest decison by the on-field umpire Virender Sharma and the quickest reversal by the third umpire Anil Chaudhary. Shahbaz Ahmed had gone for a reverse sweep off Varun Chakravarthy and it hit the edge and deviated the width of two stumps almost to hit his pad. Chakravarthy appealed. And appealed. Shahbaz ran and reached the other end when Virender decided to wilt and put his finger up. The other batsman Glenn Maxwell was shocked and said "it hit bat!'. Third umpire had one look and decided 'clearly off the bat', and said he didn't need any more replays or hawk-eye etc. And that was that.

Mavi to bowl the last over.  This innings has not had a single six thus far. Can it change in this over? A no ball and the free hit is punished for a 4 by Patel. And another wicket falls for RCB. Run-out at the bowler's end. Too ambitious to go for a second run after that misfield. RCB are 7 down now. 12 off the last over. RCB 138/7 after 20 overs

KS Bharat ?
Virat Kohli ?
AB de Villiers ?
Glenn Maxwell ?

Sunil Narine made his presence felt in an all-important #VIVOIPL #Eliminator & scalped 4? wickets. ? ? #RCBvKKR

Watch this brilliant performance from the @KKRiders' spinner ? ?https://t.co/hSD1zf8XMB

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 11, 2021

Ferguson to bowl the 19th over. RCB had a great start but have slowed down considerably. 140 might be a decent score to get. But can they? Christian might try. Hits a 4 off the second ball. And Lockie takes his KKR's sixth wicket to end the over as Shahbaz goes. RCB 126/6 after 19 overs.

How things change overnight. There he was soaking up all the adulation after the last match heroics that included a last-ball six. But today Srikar Bharat couldn’t do much, struggling for a 16-ball 9 knock. The pressure was also on him due to the tactical decision RCB took in some respects. Virat Kohli went for the singles to give the strike to Bharat against the mystery spinners Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine. And against Shakib Al Hasan too. Barring one dot ball in this phase after power play when the spinners twirled, Kohli took single of every ball he faced. But Bharat couldn’t connect with his attempted aggressive hits. He was nearly stumped once, and kept mistiming Chakravarthy and co. He couldn’t reach the pitch of the balls - the spinners were brilliant with their lengths, and he couldn’t find any timing. The shots kept getting more desperate but nothing clicked and the misery ended when he holed up to long-off. His innings sucked up all the momentum built during the powerplay.

Narine to bowl the 17th over. And he takes Maxwell. He is taking everyoner it seems. It's wicket number four. Narine has taken 4/20. RCB in a fix. RCB 112/5 after 16.4 overs

GONE! ??

Another one bites the dust as Sunil Narine scalps his 4th wicket. ? ?#RCB lose Glenn Maxwell. #VIVOIPL | #RCBvKKR | #Eliminator | @KKRiders

Follow the match ? https://t.co/PoJeTfVJ6Z pic.twitter.com/DEOhaDqeou

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 11, 2021

Narine takes another. What a match this has been for him. Another gone. de Villiers is done. RCB 102/4 after 14.2 overs

Man on a Mission! ? ?

Sunil Narine is on a roll here in Sharjah! ? ? @KKRiders #RCB 4 down as AB de Villiers gets out. #VIVOIPL | #RCBvKKR | #Eliminator

Follow the match ? https://t.co/PoJeTfVJ6Z pic.twitter.com/nUOCCmyXus

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 11, 2021

And Kohli is gone. Narine takes the big wicket. Clean bowled. What a ball!! What a wicket. RCB lose their captain. RCB 88/3 after 12.2 overs.

T. I. M. B. E. R!

Sunil Narine strikes and strikes big for @KKRiders! ? ?#RCB 3 down as captain Virat Kohli departs for 39. #VIVOIPL | #RCBvKKR | #Eliminator

Follow the match ? https://t.co/PoJeTfVJ6Z pic.twitter.com/PLD16gpHow

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 11, 2021

Ferguson in to bowl. RCB need to pick up the pace though, especially Kohli. It has really slowed down after the powerplay. Kohli finishes it off with a 4 though. Still, no real harm done from KKR's perspective.  RCB 87/2 after 12 overs.

Bharat's wicket has one downside. Maxwell is on the field. And he hits a 4 off Shakib's third ball. Not a bad over by any means. 9 off it. RCB 79/2 after 11 overs.

Far afield in England, a certain Asif Iqbal was basking in pride, as Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders turned up in Sharjah for the IPL Eliminator. It's been four decades since Sharjah became a cricket venue and the former Pakistan captain, with a strong Hyderabad (India) connection, played a massive part in bringing the game to the desert. "When people still call me one of the chief architects of cricket in Sharjah, I feel proud. We started from scratch and now it has become the go-to venue for the IPL also apart from a World Cup, just around the corner," Iqbal says, speaking to The Indian Express. His emotions at moment are recollected in the cold and damp of London, where IPL is popular among cricket fans. "I enjoyed the last night's game. Today's match also, I am looking forward to top entertainment." As nostalgia kicks in, Iqbal spares a thought for those who, along with him, dared to dream. "Some of them are still alive, some of them are no more. Together we made it happen and the happiness lingers."

And Bharat is gone. Narine takes the danger man. Bharat finally goes for the big shot, but he doesn't have the power to get it over long off. Iyer runs around to get it. RCB 69/2 after 9.2 overs

In the air & taken! ??

Sunil Narine strikes in his first over as Venkatesh Iyer takes the catch in the deep. ? ? @KKRiders #RCB lose KS Bharat. #VIVOIPL | #RCBvKKR | #Eliminator

Follow the match ? https://t.co/PoJeTfVJ6Z pic.twitter.com/0lCRFiHPUZ

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 11, 2021

It's the 9th over and Shakib is back again. A couple of slow overs from RCB's perspective. Innings has slowed down. RCB 66/1 after 9 overs.

Shakib in the attack. Is that a run out? No, Kohli is safe. These quick singles might cost some wickets but keeps the scoreboard ticking nicely. Good over. Just 4 off it. RCB 57/1 after 7 overs.

And Ferguson gets DDP. Chopped on! Full and wide outside off from around the stumps. Important wicket. RCB 49/1 after 5.1 overs

End of powerplay!

5?3? runs for @RCBTweets.

1? wicket for @KKRiders. #VIVOIPL | #RCBvKKR | #Eliminator

Follow the match ? https://t.co/PoJeTfVJ6Z pic.twitter.com/SP11Cgl5XR

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 11, 2021

And a 4 to Mavi as well. Kohli starts with a boundary. And Padikkal hits another one. RCB are looking to target this young bowler. 13 off his over. Last over of powerplay left. RCB 49/0 after 5 overs.

Lockie is hit for a four by DDP off the very first ball. A rude welcome for him. And a four off the fifth ball as well. Clipped fine off his hips. 12 off the over. RCB 36/0 after 4 overs.

Varun has replaced Shakib. RCB batters chipping away. 7 runs off this one. RCB 24/0 after 3 overs

Mavi to bowl the second over. Just 1 run off tye first 4 balls. And Kohli follows the script from the first over. Finishes this off with a 4 as well. But wait! It's a no ball. Free hit time. And another 4 to end the over. RCB 17/0 after 2 overs.

Decent first over from Shakib. But gets hit for the first boundary of the match in the last ball. Kohli moves his feet quickly and smashed that. RCB 7/0 after 1 over.

Kohli and Paddikal have come out to bat for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Shakib will open the attack for Kolkata Knight Riders.

Kolkata Knight Riders XI: S Gill, V Iyer, N Rana, R Tripathi, E Morgan, D Karthik, S Al Hasan, S Narine, L Ferguson, V Chakaravarthy, S Mavi

Royal Challengers Bangalore XI: V Kohli, D Padikkal, KS Bharat, AB de Villiers, G Maxwell, S Ahmed, D Christian, G Garton, H Patel, M Siraj, Y Chahal

Team News@RCBTweets & @KKRiders remain unchanged. #VIVOIPL | #RCBvKKR | #Eliminator

Follow the match ? https://t.co/PoJeTfVJ6Z

Here are the Playing XIs ? pic.twitter.com/HGpLgirH44

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 11, 2021

The coin goes up. Kohli wins toss. RCB opt to bat first.

? Toss Update from Sharjah ?@RCBTweets have elected to bat against @KKRiders. #VIVOIPL | #RCBvKKR | #Eliminator

Follow the match ? https://t.co/PoJeTfVJ6Z pic.twitter.com/LSP3KP4mtL

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 11, 2021

Captain @imVkohli in the zone ? ?#VIVOIPL | #RCBvKKR | #Eliminator pic.twitter.com/WtJY6mvsUC

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 11, 2021

All smiles ahead of a big clash ?#VIVOIPL | #RCBvKKR | #Eliminator pic.twitter.com/pchvZ3foZD

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 11, 2021

In the 28 matches played by the two sides, RCB have won 13 while KKR have left the field as victors 15 times.

In the first meeting between #RCB & #KKR in the #VIVOIPL 2021, @ABdeVilliers17 set the stage on fire ? with the bat. ? ?

As we get ready for tonight's #RCBvKKR #Eliminator, let's relive that special knock from ABD ? ?

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 11, 2021

In @KKRiders' last encounter against #RCB in #VIVOIPL, @chakaravarthy29 spun a web around #RCB & scalped 3 wickets. ? ?

Let's revisit that performance as we gear up for tonight's #RCBvKKR #Eliminator in Sharjah. ? ?

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 11, 2021

Some Gill-tastic shots to put you in the matchday mood ??@ShubmanGill #KKR #RCBvKKR #AmiKKR #KorboLorboJeetbo #???KKR #IPL2021 pic.twitter.com/Ad878QuQD6

— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) October 11, 2021

Let’s get to that half-century and then some, Miyan. ???#PlayBold #WeAreChallengers #????RCB #IPL2021 #RCBvKKR #PlayOffs pic.twitter.com/ROmSz7n5YQ

— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) October 11, 2021

RCB (likely): 1 Virat Kohli (capt), 2 Devdutt Padikkal, 3 KS Bharat (wk), 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 AB de Villiers, 6 Dan Christian, 7 Shahbaz Ahmed, 8 George Garton, 9 Harshal Patel, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal.

KKR (likely): 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Venkatesh Iyer, 3 Rahul Tripathi, 4 Nitish Rana, 5 Eoin Morgan (capt), 6 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 7 Andre Russell, 8 Sunil Narine, 9 Lockie Ferguson, 10 Shivam Mavi, 11 Varun Chakravarthy.

Read more: RCB vs KKR team prediction

This will be the first instance of RCB playing KKR in IPL knockouts/playoffs.

Narine has played nine playoff matches and has struggled at the business end of the tournament. He's picked just four wickets and has an average of 8.60 with the bat in hand.

Welcome to the live commentary of the eliminator match pitting Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore against Eoin Morgan's Kolkata Knight Riders in Sharjah. No second chances here tonight as this is a do or die situation for RCB and KKR. The winner of this match will go on to enter Qualifier 2 where they will have to play against the losing team of Qualifier 1, Delhi Capitals. The winner of that match will go to the final to face Chennai Super Kings. 

Hello & welcome from Sharjah for #Eliminator of the #VIVOIPL. ?

It's the @imVkohli-led @RCBTweets who will square off against @Eoin16's @KKRiders in what promises to be a fascinating contest. ? ? #RCBvKKR

Which team are you rooting for tonight? ? ? pic.twitter.com/2nmnJHr7cn

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 11, 2021