SRH were landed a death blow by a rampant Kolkata Knight Riders, who were again spurred on by a superb performance by the Caribbean Andre Russell, who delivered with both bat and ball. Batting first, the Knight Riders scored 177 in the first innings, after digging their selves into a deep hole as the innings transitioned from the middle overs to the death overs phase.
However, it was Russell who delivered the goods when it mattered. He played a crucial cameo to take his side to a defendable total. The Sunrisers were appalling with the bat, something that has happened on multiple occasions this season. Russell picked up three wickets with the ball as well, as he wrapped a man-of-the-match performance with his side taking home two essential points.
KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer won the toss at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune, and decided to bat first, a decision that has proven to be very profitable of late. Nevertheless, they did not get off to the best of starts with Proteas left-armer Marco Jansen getting rid of the dangerous Venkatesh Iyer early on in the innings. Ajinkya Rahane was quite fluent during his stay. The veteran took full advantage of the powerplay fielding restrictions and scored three sixes.
Nitish Rana was also looking terrific in the middle. He struck a boundary and three maximums before a tame dismissal to Umran Malik ended the left-hander’s stay in a rather abrupt fashion. Shreyas Iyer and Rinku Singh could not stick around in the middle, and their dismissals meant that the Knight Riders were reduced to 94/5 by the 12th over.
With the side in deep trouble, overseas duo Sam Billings and Russell dug deep to take their side to a decent total. Both the players did an excellent job, with the former striking three sixes off Washington Sundar, as Kolkata finished on 177/6 at the end of 20 overs.
Kane Williamson’s hapless run at the top of the order for the Sunrisers extended, much to the agony of the Hyderabad faithful. It was another highly questionable performance from the New Zealand captain, who looks a shadow of his former self. Abhishek Sharma was looking good, but frequent wickets at the other end and some excellent bowling changes starved Sharma of the strike, leading to his dismissal. The dangerous Nicholas Pooran also departed shortly after, sending the Hyderabad innings into a tailspin.
It was curtains for the 2016 champions, who were barely able to make a dent on the 178-run target set by the Knight Riders. Aiden Markram was the only middle-order batsman who was able to make any real contribution. The veteran South African unsuccessfully attempted to bring his side back into the game, striking two big sixes, but received absolutely no support from the other end, as the Orange Army was conquered by a massive margin of 54 runs.
SRH now have the same amount of games in hand, and also, their qualification will be subject to other results going their way. The boost in NRR will do the Knight Riders dressing room a whole lot of good but will not be able to make it to the playoffs as things stand.
Brief scores
Kolkata Knight Riders 177 for 6 (Russell 49*, Billings 34, Malik 3-33) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 123 for 8 (Abhishek 43, Markram 32, Russell 3-22, Southee 2-23) by 54 runs
