2024-03-23 17:14:57
Kolkata – Even Heinrich Klaasen’s ‘Mass’ could not save Hyderabad. Kolkata Knight Riders won by four runs in a thriller that lasted until the last ball. Chasing the target of 209 runs set by Kolkata, Sunrisers Hyderabad’s innings ended at 204 runs for the loss of seven wickets in the allotted 20 overs. In the last overs, the brilliant batting of South African Henrich Klaasen (63* off 29 balls) brought Hyderabad to the threshold of victory.
Hyderabad scored 71 runs in the last four overs alone. In the last over, 13 runs were required for victory, but Hyderabad managed to score only eight runs. With this, Pat Cummins had to taste defeat on his debut as captain. Hyderabad got off to a good start in reply. Openers Mayank Agarwal (32 off 21 balls) and Abhishek Sharma (32 off 19 balls) added 60 runs for the first wicket.
Rahul Tripathi (20 off 20 balls) and Aiden Markram (18 off 13 balls) who came later did not contribute much and affected Hyderabad’s scoring. The Kolkata bowlers kept the pressure on by taking wickets at regular intervals. Hyderabad got on track when they scored 16 runs in the 17th over bowled by Russell. Hyderabad scored 21 runs in the next over and 26 runs in the next over. But the victory could not be achieved in the last over. For Kolkata, Harshit Rana took three wickets, Andre Russell took two wickets and Varun Chakraborty and Sunil Narine took one wicket each.
∙ Russell ‘Ride’
Russell finished what Salt started. Kolkata Knight Riders, who made a beautiful start and finish, scored 208 runs for the loss of seven wickets in the allotted 20 overs against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the first match of the 17th season of IPL. The batting of opener Phil Salt (54 off 40 balls) who scored a half-century and Andre Russell (64* off 25 balls) who filled the field with huge hits in the last overs gave Kolkata a good score. Kolkata scored 85 runs in the last five overs alone. Russell scored 62 runs. Seven sixes and three fours came from Russell’s bat. He scored 26 runs in the 19th over only.
Andre Russell’s batting against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Image: X/KKR
Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins won the toss and sent Kolkata into bat. If Kolkata lost Sunil Narine (2) in the second over itself, another opener, Phil Salt, led the innings forward. Salt made his debut for Kolkata and scored a half-century in the very first match.
With Venkatesh Iyer (7), captain Shreyas Iyer (nil) and Nitish Rana (9) failing to shine, Kolkata struggled in the middle overs. Ramandeep Singh’s batting (35 off 17 balls) helped Kolkata at this time. Russell and Rinku Singh (23 off 15 balls) combined for the seventh wicket and Kolkata got back into the game. Mitchell Starc (6*) who came after Rinku’s dismissal in the last over remained unbeaten. T. Natarajan took three wickets, Mayank Markande took two wickets and Pat Cummins took one wicket for Hyderabad.
∙ Playing XI
Kolkata Knight Riders: Venkatesh Iyer, Phil Salt, Shreyas Iyer (Captain), Rinku Singh, Nitish Rana, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakraborty
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Mayank Agarwal, Rahul Tripathi, Aidan Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Marco Jansen, Pat Cummins (capt), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Markande, T. Natarajan
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