(Cricket news) After their first innings, the Knights set a challenging aim of 172 runs, with Rinku Singh leading the way with 46 runs (35b, 4×4, 1×6) and skipper Nitish Rana contributing 42 runs (31b, 3×4, 3×6). Aiden Markram scored 41 runs (40b, 4×4) and Heinrich Klassen scored 36 runs (20b, 1×4, and 3×6) to help Hyderabad come close to winning the chase.
To eke out a victory, the Kolkata bowlers kept things close and took frequent wickets in the final few overs. With this victory, KKR, who are now in eighth place, can keep up with the playoff race and attempt a late-season comeback.
Varun Chakaravarthy bowled an outstanding final over in which he conceded just 3 runs while SRH needed 9 to win the match. Brett Lee, a TATA IPL specialist for JioCinema, praised Chakaravarthy’s control during the over, which helped him earn Player of the Match.
Brett Lee said, “9 runs, 9 times out of 10, the chasing side would knock that off. There was one ball that could’ve gone for six but ended up being a wicket ball. That was a length where he could’ve gotten underneath that and sent it for six, but in hindsight, you’ve got to say they’ve done a terrific job.” He added, “I think that was good defending by KKR but equally, poor batting and a horrible display by the Sunrisers.”
After KKR set a total of 171 runs, Sunrisers Hyderabad would have felt confident about their chances of winning, but changing weather conditions and some poor shot-making resulted in their defeat. JioCinema TATA IPL expert questioned SRH’s batting performance in this game that needed to be won.
Brett Lee added, “They just fell apart there and there was too much for Abdul Samad to do in the end and he didn’t have enough backing. The batters got off to a decent start, and Mayank Agarwal got off to a great start. This one was unnecessary (Abhishek Sharma’s wicket), and the next one was even more unnecessary, just a disappointing shot after losing two wickets in the power play, you end up playing a big shot when you know there’s a fine leg back then. It’s a brain fade. Rahul Tripathi has been struggling for runs and Harry Brook today didn’t look like he was having the best time in India, besides the 100 that he got. Got out today again without troubling the bowlers.”
JioCinema Parthiv Patel, a TATA IPL expert, criticised SRH’s decision-making, particularly pursuing a DLS victory when they might have pursued the aim, “KKR definitely won this game with the bowling changes they made, the way they trusted Varun Chakaravarthy with the last over. When Vaibhav Arora came to bowl, everyone wondered whether they should have let him bowl. But the Sunrisers’ tactics weren’t good. They lost the game where they were thinking more about DLS in the 17th over when they defended the final three balls. They were ahead but the rain didn’t stop and you can’t just assume that the match will stop. Their tactics were questionable there. You expect them to win the match from their position.”
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