G Rajaraman
Sunrisers Hyderabad’s hunger to pinch its second successive victory in four starts in the Indian Premier League 2023 was greater than that of Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens in the eastern megapolis on Friday night. Harry Brook’s maiden IPL century was the cherry on top in a splendid team performance as Hyderabad won by a big margin of 23 runs.
Well as Sunrisers Hyderabad defended later in the night, they were aided by the enormous pressure that the scoreboard exerted on the Kolkata top order. Left-handers Nitish Rana and Rinku ‘Sixer’ Singh entertained with their 69-run sixth-wicket stand in just over six overs. Rana got to his half-century from 25 deliveries and Rinku Singh reached the milestone in 27.
On a night when several catches were dropped and quite a few taken, including a spectacular one by substitute Glenn Phillips to dismiss Narayan Jagadeesan, Brook was able to kick on to make a huge contribution after getting a chance while Rana added but six runs after being given a ‘life’ by Washington Sundar during the frenetic chase.
The home side’s hopes fell when the skipper was finally caught at deep point by Sundar for 75. Without any significant contribution from the top order, chasing the Hyderabad total of 228 was a tall order even on a belter of a track. And the visiting side had more bowlers finding ways to stand up and be counted.
Brook unfurls class on grand stage for everyone to see
They will not mind that everyone would speak of this game as Harry Brook’s. Having endured two failures in the middle order, he found joy at the top. Despite losing Mayank Agarwal and Rahul Tripathi in the power play, he was creative against the new ball. He held himself back by giving the mystery spinners some respect before turning the pressure on.
He made the most of the life gifted by young Suyash Sharma when he was on 45 off 28 in the 10th over. When Rana, the KKR captain, reintroduced Lockie Ferguson in the 15th over, Brook hit the turbo-charge button, with a six and four fours flowing from his bat in a wide arc from long-off to third man. He paced his innings superbly and, on the grand stage, showed what a class act he is.
Aiden Markram, Hyderabad’s skipper, contributed handsomely, hitting Suyash, Kolkata’s third spinner, for three sixes and a four, and Varun Chakravarthy for a four and a six as he blazed a half-century in 25 balls. He soon gifted his wicket away to Chakravarthy, but Abhishek Sharma and Henrich Klassen pinched 48 off 23 deliveries between them in the finishing blitz.
Russell shadow of himself despite three-wicket haul
Andre Russell, who played three games without bowling, picked up two wickets in his first over. Agarwal nicked him to short third man and Tripathi top-edged a fine bouncer for the wicket-keeper to run to his left and get under the ball. Russell did not look as penetrative and nippy as in the past, but he claimed Abhishek’s scalp as well before limping off the field.
It was a night when the mystery bowlers were stopped in their tracks. They were exerting their usual control but Markram’s assault on Suyash changed it all. Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine also went for runs as Sunrisers raced from 94 for two in 10 overs to 228 for four. The three spinners conceded 113 runs in their 12 overs.
Dre Russ Searches for Form and Fluency in a Troubled Season
Mayank Markande steals a march on home spinners
On a track that continued to favour the batters, Mayank Markande, Hyderabad’s leg-spinner, was more than impressive with his temperament, control and variety. In his opening over itself, he induced Narayan Jagadeesan to play a casual sweep, but Rahul Tripathi saw the ball late and was unable to complete the catch at deep mid-wicket.
Markande ensured that Jagadeesan was unable to make a bigger contribution, with his attempt to clear the field unerringly finding the man inside the deep midwicket fence. He teased and frustrated Russell into skying a catch, while he beat the rampaging Rana more than a couple of times. Rana struck a six only in Markande’s final over.
Bhuvneshwar and Jansen put their hands up as well
Hyderabad new-ball bowlers, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Marco Jansen, the strapping left-armer, were on the money, both at the start and when they were called back later in the innings. Bhuvneshwar prised out Rahmanullah Gurbaz with the third delivery, and finished with one for 29 in his four overs.
Jansen extracted disconcerting bounce and caused Venkatesh Iyer and Narain to sky catches off the leading edge, and the wickets off consecutive deliveries briefly silenced the Eden Gardens crowd. Kolkata were pushed so far back that they could not manage another great escape despite the pyrotechnics from Rana and Rinku.