Sunrisers Hyderabad made it two wins in a row as they beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 23 runs in Match 19 of TATA IPL 2023 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Harry Brook announced his arrival in the IPL, hitting a maiden century as he powered SRH to 228/4. He was ably supported by Aiden Markram (50 off 26) and Abhishek Sharma (32 off 17) as SRH posted a daunting total. Marco Jansen (2/37) Mayank Markande (2/27) then starred with the ball as SRH survived a brilliant fight from Nitish Rana (75 off 41) and Rinku Singh (58* off 31)
Chasing 229, KKR were rocked early with Rahmanullah Gurbaz departing off just the third ball of the innings. The home team then introduced Venkatesh Iyer as their Impact Player, who walked in at No.3.
Bhuvneshwar could have had his second in his next over but he couldn’t hold on to a tough caught and bowled chance of Iyer. The KKR Impact player couldn’t survive long though as he handed a simple catch to Markram at mid on, off a leading edge, off Jansen. The SRH all-rounder made it two wickets in two balls as he sent back Sunil Narine who mistimed his loft straight to mid on.
N Jagadeesan finally injected some momentum, hitting a four and a six off T Natarajan. Captain Nitish Rana then went berserk against Umran Malik hammering him for four fours and two sixes to make it 28 off the over and take KKR to 62/3 at the end of Powerplay.
Markram then introduced Mayank Markande into the attack and he could have had a wicket in his first over but Rahul Tripathi dropped Jagadeesan at deep mid-wicket when on 25. Markande however got his man in his next over, this time caught safely by substitute fielder Glenn Phillips as Jagadeesan departed for 36 (21). Markande struck in the next over again, this time picking up the big wicket of Russell (3 off 6) as he miscued one to long on.
Rana continued the fight as he got to his fifty off 25 balls as he along with last match hero Rinku Singh added 36 runs in the 12-14 over phase. Rinku Singh was given caught behind in the next over from Bhuvneshwar Kumar but he reviewed it and replays showed the ball had bounced after taking his bottom edge on its way to the keeper. Bhuvneshwar bowled a fantastic over and gave away just 7. The required run-rate crept over 17 and then Rinku Singh got a lifeline as Washington Sundar dropped one at deep mid-wicket, off Jansen and he punished SRH, hitting one for a six over deep square leg off a NO
BALL and then another six off the Free-Hit ball to bring the crowd to life and make it 17 off the Jansen over. The equation came to 70 off 24 balls.
Rana smacked a six off the first ball of the next over from T Natarajan but the left-arm seamer bounced back hard to have Rana caught at deep point, this time Washington Sundar holding on to one, and provide a crucial moment in the match. Shardul Thakur finished the over with a four to bring the equation to 58 needed off 18. KKR could garner just 10 runs off the Bhuvneshwar over which made it more daunting at 48 needed off 12 balls. Rinku Singh hit three fours and a couple of twos to accumulate 16 runs off the penultimate over from Natarajan but rode his luck again as he was dropped by Phillips at deep mid-wicket which burst through his hands for a four off the last ball. With 32 needed off the last over, Umran Malik struck first ball, having Shardul caught at backward point. Umesh then took a single off the next ball but by this time it was out of reach of even Rinku Singh as they needed 31 off four overs. After two dot balls, Rinku hit a six and then took a single off the last ball as they fell short by 23 runs. Rinku remained unbeaten on 58 off 31 balls.
Earlier, Kolkata Knight Riders captain Nitish Rana won the toss and elected to bowl. They went unchanged with their starting XI and named Mandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Venkatesh Iyer, David Wiese and Kulwant Khejroliya as their substitutes.
SRH, on the other hand, made one change to their starting eleven as they brought in Abhishek Sharma in place of Washington Sundar. They named Abdul Samad, Vivrant Sharma, Glenn Phillips, Mayank Dagar and Washington Sundar as their substitutes.
SRH opener Harry Brook was up and running straightaway as he hit three fours in the first over, off Umesh Yadav. He crashed the first ball of the innings through covers, pulled one through mid-wicket and then scooped one to fine leg as SRH scored 14 off the first over. Mayank Agarwal and Brook took another 14 off the next over as Brook cracked his fourth four of the innings while Ferguson also erred with his line and lengths with five WIDES.
Brook continued his attacking ways as he sliced one over point, off Umesh for a 71m six and crashed the next one over backward point for consecutive sixes.
Rana then introduced Sunil Narine into the attack and he bowled a tight over, conceding just three singles. Andre Russell then struck off his first ball of IPL 2023 as he had Mayank caught at slip for 9(13). The in-form Rahul Tripathi got going straightaway with two fours in the same over but Russell hit back hard to bounce him out off the last ball of the over as the SRH batter top-edged a pull to the keeper.
SRH reached 65/2 at the end of the Powerplay.
Captain Aiden Markram opened his boundary account as he pulled one over deep square leg for a six off Russell. Things slowed down a bit after that with the next two overs going for just nine runs.
Suyash Sharma could have had a wicket off his second ball but he put down a tough caught and bowled chance of Brook. Markram got a move on as he smacked one over long off for his second six, off Suyash.
Brook got to his maiden IPL fifty, off 32 balls as SRH brought up their 100 in the 11th over. Markram continued to attack Suyash, smacking him for two sixes and a four in the 12th over to make it 16 off the over. He then took on Varun Chakravarthy, hitting him for a four and a six to bring up his fifty off just 25 balls but the KKR spinner bounced back to dismiss him next ball, caught at deep mid-wicket.
SRH could have had two wickets in two overs but Shardul Thakur dropped Abhishek Sharma in the next over, off Suyash to give him a lifeline.
Brook then upped the ante as he hit a sublime six off Ferguson and then survived a scare as he looked to scoop but missed. It flicked his pad and was caught by the keeper. The umpire raised the finger on the appeal but he reviewed it straightaway and the replays confirmed it hit his pad and there was no bat involved. He smacked the next one over mid off for a four and sliced the next one, a no ball, through point for another four. The Free-Hit ball was scooped over short fine leg for the third four of the over. Brook played and missed the next one before cracking the last one through point to make it 23 runs off the over as SRH crossed 150 in the 15th over.
Abhishek Sharma joined the party, hitting consecutive fours off Suyash as the duo took 15 runs off the 16th over. Abhishek went after Narine in the next over, hammering a four and a six to accumulate 14 off the over. Another 14-run over followed as the pair brought up the 200 in the 18th over.
Russell finally broke the 72-run stand with the wicket of Abhishek Sharma (32 off 17) but injured himself in the process. Russell though unfortunately had to leave the field with what seemed to be a leg injury. Shardul Thakur finished the Russell over and conceded three fours from five deliveries.
Brook then took a couple of twos and a single off the first three balls of the final over from Umesh Yadav to bring up the first century of IPL 2023. He brought it up off just 55 balls. Klassen added another six to power SRH to 228/4. Brook remained unbeaten on 100 off 55 while Klassen remained not out on 16 off 6.
Washington Sundar came on as the Impact Player for SRH in place of the centurion Brook at the start of SRH’s bowling innings,
