Andre Russell scored 49 unbeaten runs with the bat and took three wickets with the ball to lead Kolkata Knight Riders to a 54-run victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2022 at the MCA Stadium in Pune on Saturday. Andre Russell (49) and Sam Billings (34) shone with the bat, while Russell also took three wickets and Tim Southee took two wickets each for Kolkata Knight Riders. KKR is now in sixth place in the points table with 12 points. SRH is in eighth position with ten points.
Sunrisers Hyderabad chased 178 and got off to a solid start with opener Abhishek Sharma and Kane Williamson pushing for boundaries. But the opening duo couldn’t hold out any longer as Andre removed Russell Williamson for 9 runs to give KKR an early break.
Sharma looked good, beating Sunil Narine for two sixes in the eighth over. Rahul Tripathi tried to anchor a partnership with aggressive batter Abhishek Sharma, but was sent back to the pavilion by Tim Southee after scoring only 9 runs.
This prompted explosive batter Aiden Markram to join the opener to continue the proceedings. They built a partnership with the right mix of aggression and caution required for a 178-run chase. This score couldn’t last long, however, as Sharma was chased by keeper Sam Billings from Varun Chakaravarthy’s delivery for 43.
Next batter Nicholas Pooran also couldn’t stay long, as he was eliminated by Narine. At the end of 13 overs, the SRH was 84/4, with Washington Sundar (1*) and Aiden Markram (18*) in the fold. At this stage, the side needed a big partnership.
Markram targeted spinner Chakaravarthy and skipped 13 runs in the 14th of the innings. At this stage, SRH needed 87 runs in 36 balls. This couldn’t last long though as Markram was bowled by Umesh Yadav for 32 out of 25. Markram’s wicket put a lot of pressure on SRH as their middle batting order hasn’t clicked yet this season.
Hyderabad passed the 100-run in the 15th over. Young Shashank Singh came next to the fold to join Sundar. In the last two overs, SRH needed a miracle to score 68 runs to win.
Marco Jansen was sacked by Russell over for 11 at the end of the 18th with a flyout by Billings, bringing Bhuvneshwar Kumar into the fold.
In the 19th over of the innings, Southee dismissed Shashank Singh for 11 runs. SRH finished at 123/8 in their 20 overs and lost the game by 54 runs.
Previously, a tie of 63 between Sam Billings (34) and Andre Russell Kolkata floated Knight Riders to a solid 177/6 in their 20 overs at the MCA Stadium in Pune on Saturday.
It was a solid day for KKR with the bat as everyone made helpful contributions leading the side to a solid score. Umran Malik was the bowlers’ choice for SRH and again impressed with three scalps in his cat.
Kolkata Knight Riders, who batted first, got off to a shaky start, as opener Venkatesh Iyer was won for only 7 in the second over of the game by pacer Marco Jansen.
This brought batter Nitish Rana to the crease. Things didn’t really go well for KKR until fourth as the duo of Jansen and Bhubaneshwar Kumar kept the run tight.
The other opener Ajinkya Rahane and compatriot Rana started their attack on SRH bowlers in the fifth over which catapulted them to a great score towards the end of the power play.
The fifth and sixth overs bowled by pacer T Natarajan and Jansen were crushed for 18 and 17 runs respectively, giving Knight Riders a solid 55/1 at the end of the power play, with Rana (24*) and Rahane (20*) standing . long.
The pair continued their strong showing before speed sensation Umran Malik beat Rana for 26 out of 16 with an assist from Shashank Singh’s safe hands, ending a 48-point tie between the duo.
This brought in captain Shreyas Iyer, who welcomed Malik with a four over the point behind. Malik finished the over with a high and got Rahane for 28 out of 24 and Shashank Singh took another catch.
This pushed the Englishman Sam Billings to the extreme. In the 10th over, Iyer was Malik’s next victim when he was sacked after being caught by Rahul Tripathi at deep midwicket for 15 out of 9.
By the end of 10 overs, KKR had lost the momentum initially gathered from the Rana-Rahane stand when they were at 83/4 with Sam Billings (3*), who was joined by Rinku Singh. Singh was eventually sacked for Natarajan in the 12th over, scoring just 5. This put half of KKR back in the pavilion with a score of 94.
Andre Russell came through the basket, with the responsibility of stitching a match-saving stance and making his way through the SRH bowling attack. He and Billings resumed rebuilding efforts for KKR with the occasional strike rotation and some heavy hits.
After 15 overs, KKR was at 119/5, with Billings (15*) and Russell (16*). Billings hit Malik over two straight fours in the 16th, which ended on an expensive note for the pacer, conceding 10 runs, his ban ending with three wickets and 33 runs up.
Kumar’s next over yielded 13 runs. Natrajan took over in the 18th with the responsibility of stopping the runflow in death-overs. The duo made their 50-run tie in 36 balls. The next ball was crushed by Billings for a six to help Knight Rider sail over the 150 run.
Bhuvaneshwar was back bowling the 19th over and he got the breakthrough for SRH by sacking Billings for 34 out of 29, ending the 63-run tie between the duo.
In the end, KKR finished at 177/6 in their 20 overs, thanks to Russell’s explosive attack on Washington Sundar, who hit him three sixes. Russell finished 49*, while Sunil Narine finished 1*.
promoted
Umran Malik was the bowlers’ choice for SRH, finishing 3/33 in four overs. Kumar, Jansen and Natarajan each got one wicket.
Short Scores:Kolkata Knight Riders 177/6 (Andre Russell 49*, Sam Billings 34, Umran Malik 3/33) vs Sunrisers Hyderabad 123/8 (Aiden Markram 32, Shashank Singh 11; Andre Russell 3/22).
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