Saturday Knight fever
HYDERABAD : In a match of striking contrasts, where it was inconsequential for one team — SunRisers Hyderabad — and a must-win for the other — Kolkata Knight Riders — the latter prevailed by humbling the home team by five wickets at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium on Saturday. With this win, Kolkata walked into the play-offs (with 16 points) to become the third team to do so, after Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings. Chasing 172, Kolkata did not face a single moment on the back foot. Openers Sunil Narine (29) and Chris Lynn (55) did not spend much time together at the centre, but did enough damage to put SunRisers’ famed bowling attack under pressure.
43-ball 55 against SunRisers Hyderabad in
Hyderabad on Saturday | VINAY MADAPU
Narine was sent back to the hut by Shakib Al Hasan after he and Lynn had added 52 in just 3.4 overs. By the time the Men in Orange could snare another wicket — Lynn’s in the 14th over to make it 119/2 — Kolkata’s ship had already sailed. Bolstered by some sensible batting by Robin Uthappa (45) and Dinesh Karthik (22), the visitors did not break much sweat, coasting to the target with two deliveries to spare. Most of the first half had gone in Hyderabad’s favour.
Skipper Kane Williamson chose to bat first for the first time at the team’s home ground this season, and reaped dividends by helping his side reach a good total. The wicket did not offer much assistance for tweakers, although Kolkata skipper Karthik had hoped that it would. SunRisers openers Shreevats Goswami (35) and Shikhar Dhawan (50) raced to 60 after the powerplay to hand them a solid start. After Goswami’s dismissal, Williamson raced to 36 in 17 balls, with three sixes and a four. All this while, Dhawan took calculated risks.
Williamson looked set for his ninth half-century this season, but was scalped by pacer Javon Searles in the 13th over. Just one delivery post his fifty, Dhawan was trapped in front by speedster M Prasidh Krishna (4/30) to make it 141/3 after 15.1 overs. Post his departure, none of SunRisers’ willow-wielders could make a mark, as they lost six wickets for just 31 runs. Pinch-hitters Yusuf Pathan (2) and Carlos Brathwaite (3) — who made his IPL debut for SunRisers — were shown the exit door.
The visitors lost four wickets in the last over, and three were taken by Prasidh Krishna. Though they remain table-toppers, SunRisers have now lost three games in a row, with their bowling appearing in complete contrast of what it had been in the earlier part of the season. Going into the play-offs, they would love to change that. vishal@newindianexpress.com