During the 54th match of the 11th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) between Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Hyderabad, Kolkata Knight Riders beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 5 wickets to register their eighth win of the season and qualify for the play-offs.
After Kane Williamson won the toss and chose to bat, Sunrisers Hyderabad scored 172-5 in the allotted quota of 20 overs. Shikhar Dhawan’s 32nd IPL half-century laid the foundation for the others to score big off. However, the Sunrisers would have thought of scoring more than they eventually did.
Chasing a 173-run target was made easy for the Knight Riders by their openers. Sunil Narine’s brisk yet effective cameo and Chris Lynn’s responsible innings saw them laying a solid foundation for the others to follow. Robin Uthappa and Dinesh Karthik played crucial innings as Kolkata eventually sealed the chase in the last over of the match.
Now, we will look at the hits and flops players in this match.
Hits
Shikhar Dhawan (SRH) – Opening the batting with a new opening partner in Sreevats Goswami, Shikhar Dhawan played the ideal role of a senior partner. He took the onus on him, scoring his 32nd IPL half-century, 50 (39), with the help of five fours and a six.
Prasidh Krishna (KKR) – Playing just his fifth IPL match, Prasidh Krishna registered his career-best figures. He ended up with bowling figures of 4-0-30-4. Krishna bowled three out of four overs in the last five overs of the innings, which in itself speak highly about his performance. In the last over of the innings, he gave a paltry four runs and picked up three wickets.
Chris Lynn (KKR) – Opening the batting with Narine, Chris Lynn realised the importance of the occasion and played accordingly. It wasn’t a quintessential Lynn innings but had enough to play a big role in his team’s victory. He ended up scoring 55 (43) with the help of four fours and three sixes. He was adjourned the ‘Man of the Match’.
Flops
Yusuf Pathan (SRH) – Coming in to bat at No. 5 in the 15th over, Yusuf Pathan failed to make these opportunities of being played into the side ahead of Deepak Hooda and sent in to bat before Shakib Al Hasan count.He got out in the following over, scoring 2 (4).
Andre Russell (KKR) – Andre Russell was introduced into the attack as the first-change bowler in the third over of the match. He registered below par bowling figures of 3-0-31-1. Being promoted in the bat at No. 5 in the 17th over, Russell failed to steer his team past the winning line. He scored 4 (4) with the help of one four.
Sandeep Sharma (SRH) – Opening the bowling alongside Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sandeep Sharma failed to get any swing going tonight. Being expensive in a 173-run chase, he ended up registering bowling figures of 2-0-30-0.
