Brilliant half-centuries from Nitish Rana and Rahul Tripathi helped the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to register their 100th IPL win over SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Chennai. Chasing 188 to win, SRH suffered the worst possible start as they lost David Warned and keeper Wriddhiman Saha inside the first three overs. However, Jonny Bairstow announced himself with an inside-out six-off Shakib before Manish Pansey tonking the bowler over long-off.
Bairstow and Pandey comfortably guided SRH to reach 2/60 after 8 as they also made a solid 50-run-stand for the 3rd wicket. The English swashbuckler brought up his half-century with a flat-six over midwicket off Varun Chakravarthy in the 12th over. He was eventually dismissed by Pat Cummins in the next over and then, Manish Pandey failed to keep up with the asking rate. Pandey smashed a six off Shakib in the next over but despite that shot, just 17 runs came off the two overs after Bairstow’s dismissal.
WATCH – Shubman Gill Smashes A Classic Six Against T Natarajan
SRH promoted Mohammad Nabi in the batting order by giving him the license of going on and tonk the bowlers, but his stay at eth crease was a short one as he mistimed an attempted a big shot on a slower delivery by Prasidh Krishna. Pandey brought up his 50 in 37 balls but it wasn’t enough for SRH to overhaul KKR’s total. However, Andre Russell held his nerve in the last over and ensured that he sealed a win for the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Batting first, the duo of Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana gave a dream start to KKR. Gill had welcomes, T Natarajan, with a welcome six. KKR raced their way to 0/50 after six overs before Rashid Khan getting the wicket of Gill, who was dismissed in the flight and dip.
However, Nitish Rana continued the momentum as he bought his 50 off 37 balls with a six.
Nitish Rana smashed a couple of sixes in the next two overs as KKR surpassed the 100-run mark 11.3 overs. Rahul Tripathi also smashed 53 in just 29 balls before tonking Bhuvneshwar Kumar all over the park. His onslaught finally came to an end after he skied an attempted smack the ball across the line against T Natarajan, only to see Wriddhiman Saha complete a juggling catch.
ALSO READ: Nitish Rana celebrates the Ozil way after scoring a fifty
Tripathi’s wicket caused a mini-collapse as Rashid Khan also got the wicket of Andre Russell once again while Mohammad Nabi claimed Nitish Rana (80 off 59 balls) and Eoin Morgan on successive deliveries. But Dinesh Karthik’s unbeaten cameo of 9-ball 22 ensured that Kolkata Knight Riders eventually posted 6/187 in 20.
Here is how Twitter reacted to KKR’s win:
Well done @KKRiders on winning this game. With Russel bowling they have 6 quality options. But why was samad sent so late ?? #KKRvSRH
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) April 11, 2021
Most wins in #IPL
(incl. Super-Over wins)120 Mumbai Indians (204 matches)
106 Chennai Super Kings (180 matches)
100* Kolkata Knight Riders (193 matches)#KKRvSRH #SRHvKKR— Rajneesh Gupta (@rgcricket) April 11, 2021
What a great talent this boy @ABDULSAMAD___1 @SunRisers ! Great striking . #IPL2021 #SRHvsKKR
— Azhar Mahmood (@AzharMahmood11) April 11, 2021
Sixes hit by Abdul Samad in IPL
3 off Pat Cummins
2 off Jasprit Bumrah
2 off Anrich Nortje
1 off Kagiso Rabada#SRHvKKR #SRH— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) April 11, 2021
Samad's got a clear head. If he gets it in the zone, he will smoke you irrespective of your reputation. Had the privilege of chatting with him after his Ranji exploits last year. And, it was enthralling for me to see the clarity in his thoughtprocess.
— tea_addIct 🇮🇳 (@on_drive2306) April 11, 2021
Manish Pandey always looks good to bat out 21 overs.#KKRvsSRH
— Gaurav Sethi (@BoredCricket) April 11, 2021
55 runs
36 balls
5 fours
3 sixesJonny Bairstow is on fire for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 🔥#IPL2021 pic.twitter.com/EtowVtmk1S
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) April 11, 2021
Superb job by @KKRiders batsman! Solid knocks by #Nitishrana and #Tripathi and brilliant finish from @DineshKarthik to get them a above par total! Looks like @SunRisers missed a few tricks in the bowling department! #IPL2021 #SRHvsKKR
— Kris Srikkanth (@KrisSrikkanth) April 11, 2021
More than the batting number, it’s when you come into bat, that’s crucial. KKR got that spot on tonight! Russell came in with 4 overs to go. And DK, always at his best & dangerous with a handful of balls left. #KKRvSRH
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) April 11, 2021
Top innings from Nitish Rana. As the innings stumbles, the value will become more apparent. The problem with bottom loading a team is that the big hitters don't always get the time to play themselves in.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 11, 2021
Players with an IPL fifty-plus score at all top-5 batting positions (No.1 to No.5):-
Rohit Sharma
Shane Watson
NITISH RANA#SRHvKKR— Kausthub Gudipati (@kaustats) April 11, 2021
Correction. Bhuvi too. How these two fare in the remaining overs will determine whether KKR get past 200 https://t.co/eCYawdxSJg
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) April 11, 2021
