SRH vs KKR Match Summary:
In a high-voltage do-or-die game between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders, the Knight Riders did everything right and beat the Orange Army by 54 runs to keep their IPL 2022 playoff hopes alive.
A good opening partnership was required to chase down 178 runs in a high-pressure game, but SRH lost their captain Kane Williamson early. After playing a modest cricket and adding 30 runs along with Abhishek Sharma in the first five overs, Kane Williamson was bowled out by the hulk of Knights Andre Russell.
Rahul Tripathi scored just 9 runs and was caught and ball by Tim Southee. In the 12th over, Varun Chakravarthy trapped the set batter, Abhishek Sharma, in his fullish outside off stump delivery. The young Sharma played a good knock of 43 in 28 balls.
Sunrisers found themselves in deep trouble when they lost Nicholas Pooran at a score of 76. Aiden Markram hit three sixes to keep SRH’s hopes alive, but Umesh Yadav shattered their dreams by removing Markram (32). Although, they played the full 20 overs but only managed to score 123 and lost the game by 54 runs.
After winning the toss and opted to bat first, Kolkata witnessed a setback when their in-form batter Venkatesh Iyer got out in the second over itself. Although, Ajinkya Rahane and Nitish Rana somehow managed to keep Kolkata back on track by adding 48 runs, but Umran Malik came with some other script and dismissed both the set batter in his first over itself.
Shreyas Iyer once again was seen struggling in front of Umran Malik and in the last ball of 10th over Malik removed the skipper Iyer as well. Rinku Singh followed his captain’s suit and got out after scoring just 5 runs.
Kolkata was in deep trouble as they lose their 5 wickets at 94 runs, but a strong partnership of 63 runs between Sam Billings and Andre Russell guide the team to cross 150 mark. And with the help of Andre Russell’s monstrous hits in the 20th over, where he smashed 3 sixes, Kolkata Knight Riders managed to put 177 on board in 20 overs.
Player of the match – Andre Russell
Andre Russell was awarded as the player of the match for his brilliant all-round performance. He scored a spectacular 49 runs knock in just 28 deliveries, and later took 3 wickets to help KKR win the game.
With this win, the Kolkata Knight Riders kept their playoff hopes alive. Sunrisers Hyderabad, on the other hand, will need to win both of their remaining games at any costs to qualify mathematically.
