Kolkata Knight Riders displayed an all-round performance to defeat SunRisers Hyderabad by 54 runs on Saturday at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune in the 61st game of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 season.
With the win over SunRisers Hyderabad, Kolkata Knight Riders moved to the sixth spot in the points table with 12 points while SRH are in the eighth spot with 10 points.
KKR, who opted to bat first, KKR rode on Andre Russell’s counterattacking 28-ball 49 not out to post a fighting 177 for six.
Having lost an early wicket, opener Ajinkya Rahane and Nitish Rana, recovered the Knights’ inning as KKR scored 55/1 in the powerplay.
Umran Malik struck in his very first over as Rana (26 off 16) was picked up by Shashank Singh at fine leg, before Malik pocketed his second wicket in the same over as he removed the struggling Ajinkya Rahane. As grabbed another excellent catche from Shashank Singh saw Rahane (28 off 24) dismissed as KKR was reduced to 72/3 in 8 overs. Malik claimed his third wicket of the innings as he removed KKR skipper (15 off 9), who was picked up by Rahul Tripathi.
Losing the skipper midway through the innings, the former champs were reduced to 83/4 in 10 overs. KKR were 5 down after Rinku Singh was trapped LBW courtesy of a brilliant yorker by Natarajan.
But Andre Russell and Sam Billings rebuild KKR’s innings with a 44-ball 63 run partnership for the sixth wicket.
The fifty partnership was up for the sixth wicket off Just 39 deliveries and KKR crossed the 150-run mark with two overs to go.
After that Bhuvi removed Billings in the penultimate over to break the partnership and reduced KKR to 157/6 in 18.5 overs.
But anyone couldn’t Stop Russell, He hammered 3 sixes in the final over to help KKR reach 177/6 in the first innings.
In reply, it was Russell who once again led the way for the Knights.
The Windies all rounder handed the Knights the first breakthrough with the ball, removing SRH skipper Kane Williamson (9 off 17) to reduce SRH to 30/1 in 5.2 overs.
Tim Southee struck next to remove the inform Rahul Tripathi. A stunning follow on catch from Southee ended Tripathi’s (9 off 12) innings as SRH was reduced to 54/2 in 8.2 overs.
In the 13th over, Nicholas Pooran was dismissed after Narine took a catch off his own bowling.
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At the End, SRH could manage 123 for 8 in their stipulated 20 overs with opener Abhishek Sharma top scoring with a 28-ball 43 and Aiden Markram scoring a 25-ball 32. Russell took three wickets for 22, while rest of the bowlers — Umesh Yadav (1/19), Tim Southee (2/23), Sunil Narine (1/34) and Varun Chakravarthy (1/25) were also among wickets.
Brief Score: Kolkata Knight Riders: 177 for 6 in 20 overs (Andre Russell 49 not out; Umran Malik 3/33). Sunrisers Hyderabad: 123 for 8 in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 43; Andre Russell 3/22).