An explosive half-century by Andre Russell helped Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) edge past Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 4 runs in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Saturday. Heinrich Klaasen’s 29-ball 63 went in vain as he took SRH close to victory but could not take them beyond the finish line.
Chasing a massive 209-run target Sunrisers Hyderabad got off to a flying start with openers Mayank Agarwal and Abhishek Sharma taking the team’s total beyond the 50-run mark in just 4.3 overs.
Just when it seemed that Hyderabad openers would run away with the match Harshit Rana got the prized scalp of Agarwal dismissing him for 32 from 21 balls as SRH lost their first wicket for 60.
At the end of powerplay SRH had put on 65/1 in six overs. Andre Russell who had wreaked havoc with the bat also shined with the ball dismissing Abhishek Sharma for 32 from 19 balls reducing the 2016 champions to 71/2 in 7.2 overs.
Rahul Tripathi along with Aiden Markram helped Sunrisers Hyderabad cross the triple-figure mark in 10.2 overs.
Varun Chakravarthy gave two-time champions KKR the third breakthrough dismissing Markram for 18 as Sunrisers lost their third wicket for 107 in 11.4 overs.
In the next over Sunil Narine got the wicket of Rahul Tripathi to put SRH in further trouble at 111/4.
Heinrich Klaasen and Abdul Samad then struck a partnership and started a fightback but it was short-lived as the the latter was dismissed for 15 by Andre Russell who got his second wicket.
Shahbaz Ahmed joined in form Klaasen and the duo took SRH’s total beyond the 150-run mark in 17.1 overs.
The chase looked almost impossible but Klaasen started a brilliant fightback scoring his half-century in just 25 balls.
Klaasen and Shahbaz Ahmed notched up the 50-run partnership in just 13 balls. Hyderabad team needed 13 runs off the last over as Harshit Rana was asked to bowl the crucial over.
SRH went past the 200-run mark in 19.1 overs. Rana dismissed both Shahbaz for 16 off 5 balls and Klaasen for 63 from 29 balls as the 2016 champions fell short by four runs.
Put to bat first by Sunrisers Hyderabad, the Kolkata Knight Riders were off to a fine start as Phil Salt smacked Marco Jansen for three successive sixes in the second over. However, on the last ball of the over, Sunil Narine, who was sent to open the batting, was run out for a duck. KKR was 23/1 in two overs.
This, however, opened the floodgates for some quick wickets, as pacer T Natrajan dismissed Venkatesh Iyer for seven after being caught by Marco Jansen, while the Indian also removed skipper Shreyas Iyer for a duck after he was caught by Pat Cummins. KKR was 32/3 in 3.5 overs.
Nitish Rana and Salt took KKR to a 50-run mark in 7.1 overs. Mayank Markande, however, dismissed Nitish for just nine as his reverse sweep attempt was caught by Rahul Tripathi at deep backward point. KKR had slipped to 51/4 in 7.3 overs.
Ramandeep Singh joined Salt at the crease. The right-hander attacked Cummins, smashing him for a four and six and dispatched Markande for a six. Halfway through the innings, KKR was 77/4, with Salt (36*) and Ramandeep (20*) unbeaten.
Ramandeep continued his onslaught, hitting Jansen for a four and six. KKR reached the 100-run mark in 11.4 overs. The duo brought up their 50-run stand in just 27 balls.
Salt-Ramandeep partnership was over, with skipper Cummins dismissing the latter and Markande taking a fine diving catch. Ramandeep was back in the hut for 35 in 17 balls, with a boundary and four sixes. KKR was 105/5 in 12.1 overs.
Salt reached his third IPL fifty in 38 balls, with three fours and three sixes. His entertaining knock ended at 40 balls for 54 runs, consisting of three fours and three sixes. Markande took his second wicket, while Jansen took a catch at deep midwicket. KKR was 119/6 in 13.5 overs.
Andre Russell and Rinku Singh were the fresh pair on the crease. Russell was at his aggressive best, smashing Markande for two sixes and then smoking Bhuvneshwar Kumar for two fours and a six in the 17th over.
KKR reached the 150-run mark in 16.3 overs and Russell-Rinku also recorded their 50-run stand in 22 balls.
Rinku-Russell continued to smoke KKR during death overs, with the duo taking 15 runs from Natrajan’s 18th over.
Russell was in no mood to spare Bhuvneshwar, as in the 19th over, the pacer was smoked for two fours and two sixes, 26 runs in total. Russell reached his fifty in 20 balls, with two sixes and six sixes.
KKR reached the 200-run mark in 19 overs.
However, the 81-run partnership in 32 balls came to an end with Rinku being caught by Aiden Markram at long-on for 23 in 15 balls, with three fours. KKR was 200/7 in 19.1 overs.
KKR ended their innings at 208/7, with Russell unbeaten at 64 in 25 balls, with three fours and seven sixes and Mitchell Starc unbeaten at 6*.
Natrajan (3/32) and Markande (3/39) were the pick of the bowlers for SRH. Cummins got one wicket.
Brief scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 208/7 in 20 overs (Andre Russell 64*, Phil Salt 54; T Natarajan 3/32) vs Sunrisers Hyderabad 204/7 in 20 overs (Heinrich Klaasen 63; Harshit Rana 3/33).
