Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) crushed Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 80 runs in a one-sided match at Eden Gardens on Thursday. The inconsistency of the pitch proved to be the decisive factor, as SRH batsmen struggled to cope while KKR made the most of crucial moments to win in style.
SRH Batters Struggle Against Unpredictable Bounce
Facing a daunting 200-run chase, SRH struggled early as their aggressive batting plan came a cropper. The variable bounce of the pitch made timing tricky, resulting in a rash of soft wickets.
Travis Head tried to loft Vaibhav Arora over mid-off but lost his timing, while Abhishek Sharma was trapped by Harshit Rana’s clever delivery, edging it to slip. Wickets kept falling as Ishan Kishan’s hesitant approach came to an end in the form of a sharp catch by Ajinkya Rahane at extra cover.
Nitish Kumar Reddy was supposed to hold up the innings, but his dismissal—sending an Andre Russell ball scooting to Sunil Narine at long-on—left SRH struggling. Heinrich Klaasen had some fun with the crowd with two sixes over Sunil Narine, but his dismissal off a slower short ball by Arora meant that SRH were done for.
KKR‘s innings was built around a stabilizing 81-run stand between Rahane and young Angkrish Raghuvanshi. But the actual momentum change was in the last overs, courtesy Venkatesh Iyer’s 60 off 29 balls in a blistering knock and Rinku Singh’s 32 off 17 in a flash.
After a sluggish beginning, Rahane chose his moments, hitting Pat Cummins for a six over square leg and then attacking Mohammed Shami with a lap shot. Raghuvanshi and Rahane also attacked Simarjeet Singh, hitting sixes off his first over.
KKR struggled briefly as Zeeshan Ansari’s disciplined leg-spin restricted scoring, and Kamindu Mendis struck in his only over. However, SRH’s tactical decisions raised eyebrows, as Ansari wasn’t given a fourth over despite his tight spell, and Simarjeet bowled all four overs despite conceding 47 runs.
Final Five Overs Seal the Game for KKR
At 122/4 off 15 overs, KKR looked like crossing a modest score. But there came a carnage in the last five overs to turn the tables. Shami, Harshal Patel, and Cummins suffered as KKR plundered 78 runs from the last five overs. Rinku Singh and Iyer were at the forefront, blasting Patel for three boundaries, Simarjeet for a six and two fours, and mauling Cummins for 21 runs from the fifth-last over.
SRH, finding the pitch’s fussy bounce unmanageable, fell apart under pressure, surrendering to KKR in a thumping triumph.