Kolkata Knight Riders maintained their winning streak against Sunrisers Hyderabad as they defeated the Pat Cummins-led side by 80 runs on Thursday. After SRH failed to stem KKR’s run flow in the first innings even after taking early wickets, the Knights’ bowlers took wickets at regular intervals. With their third straight loss in four matches,
a rethink on their hammers and tongs batting approach beckons SRH.
Bowlers’ blast
With debates swirling around the nature of the strip, KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane, after losing the game and inserted to bat, observed that the deck would suit his trident of spinners, Moeen Ali, Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine.
But even before the introduction of the slow bowlers, the Kolkata pace battery drew first blood as Vaibhav Arora (3/29) sent back a dangerous Travis Head for 4 runs in his first over, second ball. Harshit Rana didn’t waste time to log in his name on the wicket chart, as he snapped up the dangerous Abhishek Sharma. The poor start got worse, as Arora ejected Ishan Kishan, Rahane pouncing onto a sharp catch as SRH slipped to 9 for 3. Even though Nitish Reddy restored some hope, before perishing to Andre Russell.
KKR bowler Vaibhav Arora in action. (Agencies)
The ambidextrous Kamindu Mendis batted soundly before Sunil Narine ended his breezy outing. Neither could Aniket Verma live up to the promise he had displayed in the last few games, as he perished attempting a big stroke off Varun Chakaravarthy. Once Arora returned to devour Heinrich Klaasen, the last lingering hope of SRH, too was snubbed out, as they were folded out for 120.
Iyer’s belligerence
Venkatesh Iyer, who KKR released and brought back for Rs 23.75, had looked weighed down by the price tag. He would stumble trying to play extravagant strokes at the start. However, as the match wore on, his confidence grew. It began with a nonchalant six off Simarjeet Singh. He then harnessed Mohammed Shami pace and deflected him for a four through third man. In all, he smoked seven fours and seven sixes in his 29-ball 60.
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On the other end, Rinku Singh, playing his 50th T20 for the Knights, also started a bit slow before getting his first boundary after 9 deliveries. He would follow that up with three back-to-back boundaries in the 17th over as Harshal Patel leaked runs. Both batters combined to bring up their team’s score to 150 in 17.1 overs before turning on the afterburners, with Iyer slapping Simarjeet for two boundaries and Rinku bookending it with a massive six.
The Kolkata vice-captain would keep his foot on the pedal, ramping Cummins in the 19th over for a four before following it up with a six to deep square leg. The carnage continued as Iyer kept finding boundaries in the over, bringing up his 50 in 25 deliveries. In the last over bowled by Harshal, Iyer continued his rampage, smashing a six and a four off the first two deliveries before dying on his sword by holing out to a fielder in the deep, but after he had propelled KKR towards 200.
R&R rebuild
With Eden typically favouring chasers, it was no surprise that SRH captain Cummins won the toss and opted to field. He vindicated the decision by snuffing out the patchy Quinton de Kock, holing out to Zeeshan Ansari for just 1 run. In the next over, Mohammed Shami sent back Narine for 7 after the opener nicked behind to Heinrich Klaasen with the defending champions losing 2 for 16 runs.
But Rahane is so used to such similar situations and he showed the worth of his experience by calmly soaking the pressure. He gently counterpunched, first smashing Cummins for a huge six before slogging Shami for a maximum over the backward square leg boundary.
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Rahane and Raguvanshi batting. (Agencies)
Youngster Angkrish Raghuvanshi offered him support and joined his captain in attack, and the pair combined to maraud 15 runs off Simarjeet Singh with KKR ending the powerplay at a decent 53/2. They steadily upped the ante, finding boundaries and circulating singles and doubles to complete their run stand in the eighth over. After the 10th over, the batters ramped up the aggression with Raghuvanshi slamming a four and a 6 off Zeeshan Ansari. The bowler would, however, have the last laugh, sending back Rahane for 38. Raghuvanshi would also depart soon after scoring 50 off 30 deliveries. But the foundation had been laid for Iyer’s rampage and a comfortable win.
Brief Scores: KKR 200 for 6 (Venkatesh 60, Raghuvanshi 50) beat SRH 120 (Klaasen 33, Arora 3-29, Varun 3-22) by 80 runs