KKR vs SRH: A contemplating all-round performance by the struggling Kolkata Knight Riders side helped them power a convincing victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad last evening in Kolkata. With this victory, Kolkata claimed the eighth position in the standings and kept their hopes of qualification to the Playoffs alive.
Winning the toss at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Nitish Rana made an exemplary decision to bat first. Batting first, the Knight Riders put up a clinical show and posted a 171/9 runs total in their first innings of 20 overs.
Kolkata was off to a sluggish start after losing Rahmanullah Gurbaz (0), Venkatesh Iyer (7), and Jason Roy (20) early on in the innings. Struggling at 35/3, skipper Nitish Rana (42) and Rinku Singh (46) came to the rescue and powered a flamboyant match-winning partnership of 61 runs for the fourth wicket.
Andre Russell (24) anchored a solid cameo and capitalized the innings alongside Rinku. In the end, a fascinating cameo from Anukul Roy (13) ensured that Kolkata breaches the 170-run mark and post a satisfactory total. For Sunrisers Hyderabad, Marco Jansen (2/24) and T. Natarajan (2/30) starred in the bowling attack whereas Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Kartik Tyagi, Aiden Markram, and Mayank Markhande chipped in a wicket apiece.
KKR’s lethal bowling restricted SRH’s run flow
Chasing a steep total of 172 runs, Sunrisers Hyderabad was off to a flying start as Mayank Agarwal (18) and Rahul Tripathi (20) made the proper use of the power play. Aiden Markram (41) and Heinrich Klaasen (36) built the innings from a solid start and anchored a crucial 70-run stand for the fifth wicket.
However, wickets started to tumble at regular intervals and Sunrisers Hyderabad fell short of just 5 runs and were restricted to 166/8. The last-over heroics of Varun Chakravarthy set the stage for Kolkata’s phenomenal victory. Kolkata’s bowling attack was pioneered by Shardul Thakur (2/23) and Varun Arora (2/32) who were splendid in their bowling spell. Varun Chakravarthy, Andre Russell, Anukul Roy, and Nitish Rana grabbed a wicket apiece.
Also read, Johnson Charles Joins Kolkata Knight Riders As Das Replacement
