Kolkata Knight Riders hit back after the defeat against Gujarat Titans to beat Sunrisers Hyderabad in yet another last-over thriller in Match 47 of TATA IPL 2023 and register a crucial win at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
Impactful knocks from Nitish Rana (42 off 31) and Rinku Singh (46 off 35) helped KKR recover from an early stutter and post a competitive 171/9 on the board. A disciplined bowling performance then saw KKR bounce back in the slog overs and display nerves of steel under pressure to clinch a thrilling win with Varun Chakaravarthy defending 9 off the last over to hand SRH their sixth loss from nine matches.
It was a brilliant comeback after Captain Aiden Markram (41 off 40) and Heinrich Klaasen (36 off 20) had played crucial knocks to put SRH in the ascendency.
Chasing 172, SRH got off to a breezy start but lost Mayank Agarwal and Abhishek Sharma early. Agarwak hit a couple of fours and a six before he was bounced out by Harshit Rana as he ended up gloving one to the keeper trying to go for the pull. Agarwal had slashed one over backward point for a six two balls earlier but Rana bounced back to dismiss Agarwal for 18(11). SRH sent in Impact Player Rahul Tripathi at No.3, replacing T Natarajan. Abhishek Sharma (9 off 10) then went for a swing across the line, off Shardul Thakur, but ended up miscuing it high to the leg side where Russell pouched a very good catch. Russell was in action in the next over, his first one, as Rahul Tripathi smashed a couple of fours over the off side and then flicked one for a six over backward square leg. However, it was the West Indies all-rounder who had the last laugh as he had Tripathi (20 off 9) caught at fine leg trying to lap another one but hitting it straight to the fielder.
SRH received another huge blow as they lost Harry Brook (0 off 4), trapped LBW by Impact Player Anukul Roy. The umpire didn’t give it out off a massive appeal so KKR opted for a review and replays showed there was no bat involved as Brook missed his sweep and the ball tracker showed it was crashing onto the leg stump – all three reds. The home side stuttered to 75/4 at the halfway mark. Klaasen then injected some momentum as he hammered a couple of massive sixes off Anukul Roy in the 11th over. Markram too got going with two consecutive fours off Varun Chakaravarthy. The duo brought up the 50-run stand off 37 balls. With the partnership blossoming, KKR were in dire need of a wicket and who else but Shardul Thakur answered his captain’s call as he returned to send back the dangerous Klaasen (36 off 20) caught at deep mid-wicket.
Markram and Abdul Samad cracked a four each in the same Shardul over to make sure the pressure wasn’t built as the equation came down to 38 off 30 balls. Chakaravarthy bowled a tight 16th over to give away just four. With 34 needed off 24, Abdul crunched a cracking cover drive to start the 17th over from Vaibhav Arora with a four but the KKR pacer bounced back to get the crucial wicket of Markram (41 off 40) via a slower short delivery. He gave away just two from the last five balls as the equation read 26 off 18. Chakaravarthy bowled another good over to give away just five.
With 21 needed off 12, Vaibhav Arora started the penultimate over with a WIDE. But keeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz pulled off a spectacular catch off an inside edge from Jansen off the next ball to dent SRH. Bhuvneshwar arrived and got off the mark in style, lofting one over cover to bring the game down to 16 needed off 10. A dot and a single followed before Samad ssliced one over backward point off a no ball from Arora to bring the equation down to 10 needed off 8. Arora bowled another dot next up and Samad then took a single off the last ball to keep the strike and bring the equation down to 9 off the last over.
Rana handed the ball to Chakaravarthy to bowl the last over. The wily spinner started off well as he gave away just two singles off the first two balls and then had Samad (21 off 18) caught at deep mid-wicket to bring the equation to 7 needed off 3. Mayank Markande shuffled way across and looked to scoop his first ball but missed. A dot ball. Markande lofted the next ball to long on for just a single. With six needed off the last ball, Chakaravarthy darted in a faster short ball outside off which Bhuvneshwar looked to pull but missed as KKR produced a brilliant comeback to win the match by 5 runs.
Earlier, Kolkata Knight Riders captain Nitish Rana won the toss and elected to bat. They made two changes to the starting XI as Jason Roy and Vaibhav Arora replaced David Wiese and N Jagadeesan. They named Suyash Sharma, Anukul Roy, N Jagadeesan, Lockie Ferguson and Kulwant Khejroliya as their substitutes.
Sunrisers Hyderabad made three changes to their starting eleven as Marco Jansen, Kartik Tyagi and T Natarajan replaced Akeal Hosein, Umran Malik and Rahul Tripathi. Vivrant, Glenn Phillips, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Reddy and Sanvir Singh made it to their substitutes list.
SRH got off to a good start as Marco Jansen removed Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Venkatesh Iyer early. Jason Roy went on the attack early as he cracked two consecutive fours off Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the first over. Gurbaz looked to go after Jansen straightaway but ended up mistiming his loft to mid on off the first ball of Jansen’s spell in the second over. Venkatesh Iyer got off the mark with a four but three balls later he ended up gloving a sharp bouncer from Jansen to the keeper. It was a fantastic over from Jansen which pegged KKR back. Things got tougher for KKR as Kartik Tyagi struck in his first over to dismiss Jason Roy who got an outside edge to short third man trying to pull a short of a good length delivery outside off.
Rinku Singh got off the mark in style with a cracking straight drive for four off Tyagi. Rana flicked one behind square leg off Jansen for his second four as KKR reached 49/3 at the end of the Powerplay.
Rana welcomed T Natarajan with a six over backward square leg off the second ball of his spell. It was the first maximum of the innings. Rinku Singh then pressed the accelerator button as he thumped a couple of fours through covers off Aiden Markram. Rana continued the momentum in the next over as he smacked a four and a couple of powerfully pulled sixes off Tyagi to make it 17 off the over and take KKR to 90/3 at the halfway mark.
Markram then produced a moment of brilliance as he pulled off a superb caught and bowled running back off a top edge from Rana, to break the 61-run stand. Andre Russell arrived and got going straightaway with two sixes off the first four balls he faced. One more four arrived but then brave Mayank Markande tossed one up and lured Russell into going big but the batter ended up getting outfoxed and getting an outside edge to backward point. It was a massive wicket given that Russell had started off well. Another brilliant piece of deception saw Bhuvneshwar send back Narine as he scooped one to extra cover off the knuckle ball.
Rinku cracked a powerful six straight down the ground but the wickets kept falling as Natarajan sent back Shardul for 8(6). KKR sent Anukul Roy at No.9 in the 18th over as their Impact Player, replacing Jason Roy. He provided some impetus, hitting a couple of fours off Bhuvneshwar in the penultimate over, taking 13 off it.
Rinku Singh couldn’t get to his fifty as he holed out to deep mid-wicket for 46(35), off Natarajan and Harshit Rana was brilliantly run out by the bowler as they ran through for a risky bye. The SRH pacer bowled a superb over, giving away just three as KKR posted 171/9.
