The Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) bowling attack has failed again in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). It continued to degrade even further in the game against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). They were defending a target of 160 which was a fighting one. But their bowlers looked helpless literally in front of the likes of David Warner and Jonny Bairstow. The SRH’s opening duo clobbered every bowler that came their way as the SRH are now back in contention for playoffs now.
During the toss, the KKR skipper, Dinesh Karthik revealed that they have made three changes to their squad as, Rinku Singh, KC Cariappa, and Prithvi Raj came in for Robin Uthappa, Kuldeep Yadav, and Prasidh Krishna. On the other hand, SRH made no changes to their squad.
WATCH – Vijay Shankar’s Bullet Throws Dismissed Dinesh Karthik
Lynn and Narine added as many as 28 runs in the first two overs of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shahbaz Nadeem. Even, Narine started the third over bowled by Khaleel Ahmed with a huge six followed by a couple of boundaries before getting out on the 4th ball of the over. After Narine’s dismissal, KKR kept on losing wickets in regular intervals as Shubman Gill was also dismissed by Khaleel in the 5th over.
WATCH – Khaleel Ahmed Had The Last Laugh Against Sunil Narine
Nitish Rana got out in the 8th over off the bowling of Bhuvneshwar but, Lynn kept on smashing the SRH bowlers. Karthik and Lynn also failed to bring a partnership as the KKR skipper was dismissed in the 9th over owing to a brilliant throw from Vijay Shankar. Even Lynn and Andre Russell failed to deliver as they both were dismissed by Bhuvneshwar in the 17th and 19th overs respectively. However, after smashing a couple of sixes. However, Rinku Singh played well as helped KKR to reach 159/8 in their quota of 20 overs.
Warner and Bairstow partnership
During the chase, the game became one-sided in the powerplay itself as David Warner and Jonny Bairstow amassed as many as 72 runs in the first six overs. Both of them scored a fifty and the KKR bowlers failed to find the right length as Bairstow and Warner kept on smashing them. However, the latter got out in the 13th over, but by then, the game was almost sealed for SRH and Williamson helped Jonny to get their team over the line with 9 wickets in hand and 5 overs to spare.
Brief Score:
Sunrisers Hyderabad – 161/1 in 15 overs (D Warner: 67, J Bairstow: 80*; P Raj: 1/29) defeated Kolkata Knight Riders – 159/8 in 20 overs (C Lynn: 51; B Kumar: 2/35, K Ahmed: 3/33) by 9 wickets and 5 overs to spare
Here is how Twitter reacted to SRH’s win:
And… before we could finish typing, @jbairstow21 hits two back-to-back sixes and finishes off in style once again!
What. A. Guy.#OrangeArmy #RiseWithUs #SRHvKKR
— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) April 21, 2019
SRH have registered 100+ opening partnerships 10 times in the IPL.
David Warner has been involved in all 10 100+ opening partnerships (6 with Dhawan and 4 with Bairstow)
Warner for SRH
Innings: 68
50+ scores: 34
A 50+ score every second innings@SunRisers #superstar #SRHvKKR— Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) April 21, 2019
This #IPL, Warner hasn’t been dismissed by spin even once. Tonight might change that stat. #SRHvKKR
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) April 21, 2019
.@lynny50's fifty, not quite the strike rate T20 demands but @imK_Ahmed13 did a top job to remove the first three. @BhuviOfficial saved them for Russell muscle and Rana, both of them could've been dangerous#SRHvKKR
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) April 21, 2019
Warner & Bairstow – Partnerships in #IPL2019
118 (77) v KKR
110 (58) v RR
185 (98) v RCB
64 (41) v DC
33 (22) v MI
7 (10) v KXIP
72 (59) v DC
66 (34) v CSK
131 (74) v KKRNo opening pair has registered four century stands in a season in the history of T20s.@SunRisers #SRHvKKR
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) April 21, 2019
KKR's middle order has come under a lot of scrutiny this season but more problematic has been their bowling. KKR used to be able to rely on their bowling to defend even sub-par scores. This season they've averaged 46 runs per wicket – their highest ever in the IPL. #IPL #SRHvKKR
— Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket) April 21, 2019
DK, on Kuldeep: "It's definitely form issue, he did not stand up for us last game, so decided to give him a break."#IPL2019 #SRHvKKR
— Suneer (@suneerchowdhary) April 21, 2019
KKR totally dismembered tonight. Insipid batting resulted in a total that was well within the capabilities of Warner and Bairstow. #ipl2019
— Ric Finlay (@RicFinlay) April 21, 2019
At this rate, KKR could well finish below either RR or RCB (or both). #IPL2019
— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) April 21, 2019
