Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by four wickets to knock out the Virat Kohli-led side from the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021.

Chasing a paltry target of 139, the match went down to the wire, where the Knight Riders held their nerves and won the contest.

Shubman Gill (26), Venkatesh Iyer (26) and Sunil Narine (26) made valuable contributions to help their side book a place in Qualifier 2. Nitish Rana also chipped in with a crucial 23 off 25 balls.

Earlier, the Challengers posted 138/7 in their allotted 20 overs. Captain Virat Kohli top-scored with 39 off 33 balls, with the help of five boundaries.

Apart from Kohli, no other batter was able to stay long enough to contribute well. Opener Devdutt Padikkal was the second-highest scorer for RCB with 21 from 18 deliveries.

For the Knight Riders, Narine bowled magnificently well to restrict RCB at a below-par score. Narine picked up four wickets for 21 runs in his quota of 4 overs. The Caribbean sent back Kohli, Srikar Bharat (9), Glenn Maxwell (15), and AB de Villiers (11).

 

Here is how Twitter reacted:

 

End of an era. Virat Kohli thank you for everything skip. #RCBvKKR

— Chloe-Amanda Bailey (@ChloeAmandaB) October 11, 2021

 

Change of venue, changed the way they played cricket in the second half. Special victory by #kkr

— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) October 11, 2021

 

Kamaal #KKR
Misaal #KKR
Bemisaal #KKR #IPL2021

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) October 11, 2021

 

Sunil Narine tonight. #RCBvKKR #IPL2021 pic.twitter.com/fB7kzqw3Js

— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) October 11, 2021

 

Har kisi ko muqammal jahan nahi milta…
Well tried skipper #Kohli
KKR should be proud of the fightback in the UAE leg. #KKRvsRCB #RCBvsKKR #narine #SunilNaraine

— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) October 11, 2021

 

The Knights come up trumps in the battle of nerves 💪#RCBvKKR #KKR #AmiKKR #IPL2021 pic.twitter.com/kxABfgxLd4

— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) October 11, 2021

 

Royal Challengers Bangalore becomes the first team to lose the eliminator in 2 consecutive IPL seasons.#IPL2021

— Kausthub Gudipati (@kaustats) October 11, 2021

 

That’s the last of Virat as IPL captain. Never to win a title #RCBvsKKR

— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) October 11, 2021

 

End of Virat Kohli the captain in IPL history, had tough times but always pulled out something special. The memorable moment is qualifying for the final of 2016 IPL.

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) October 11, 2021