Kolkata Knight Riders pulled off a spectacular victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad, courtesy of some brilliant death overs bowling as they defended a modest 172-run target at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday. The Knights continued their domination against SRH and now have won six in the last eight matches played between the two sides.
Here are some of the key takeaways from the match:
KKR’s top order fails again
Opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz started the proceedings with a golden duck after Marco Jansen sent the Afghan batter packing. The SRH pacer returned to hunt down Venkatesh Iyer for seven before Kartik Tyagi got rid of Jason Roy for 20 in what was a sluggish start by Kolkata Knight Riders. KKR’s batting has been a major concern throughout the ongoing IPL season and once again faltered to get going in what was a must-win encounter for the two-time IPL winners. While the middle-order once again saved the blushes for KKR as they took them to a respectable total, KKR need to solve the repetitive top-order collapses if they want to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Rinku Singh save KKR’s blushes again
Rinku Singh has been one of the major positives for KKR this season. Having scored 316 runs in 10 matches in IPL 2023, the UP batter has showcased his calibre in the tournament, and the match against SRH was one of the highlights for the middle-order bat. Rinku walked into bat within the powerplay but ensured to rescue KKR from a spot of bother. While he carefully negated the initial few deliveries, the southpaw looked at his best as he smashed 46 runs powered by four boundaries and one sixes. Rinku’s partnership with skipper Nitish Rana helped KKR find the rhythm back in the first innings, and perhaps took the team towards a ‘winning total’.
Markande-Natarajan hunt down KKR
While all the SRH bowlers conceded runs at more than eight runs an over, leggie Mayank Markande and pacer Natarajan were pick of the bowlers for the Hyderabad unit. Natarajan ended up conceding just 30 runs off his four overs and got rid of Rinku and Shardul Thakur whereas Markande got the much-important scalp of Andre Russell, who was looking dangerous in his brief stay at the crease. Markande, especially, used his variations to perfection, mixing his googlies and traditional leg-spin with utmost confidence. After being benched and traded around in the last few seasons of IPL, Markande is finally coming of the age whereas Natarajan is having a big season after struggling with consistent injuries in the last couple of years. The duo played a pivotal role in restricting KKR to 171/9 in 20 overs.
Double ‘V’ nails it at the death
Varun Chakravarthy and Vaibhav Arora were handed the responsibility to control the death overs, and that is what they exactly did. While Chakravarthy was, overall, the pick of the bowler for KKR as he conceded just 20 runs off his four-over quota while picking up one wicket, Arora conceded 20 in total in the 17th and 19th over while bagging a brace. Chakravarthy, in particular, turned the game in favour of KKR, conceding just 12 runs in his last three overs at the death while scalping the big wicket of Abdul Samad in the final over. Had it not been for the ‘Double V’ of KKR, they could have conceded yet another match in this IPL.