Kolkata Knight Riders, SunRisers Hyderabad
KKR win by 10 runs [Image-IPLT20]

Brilliant batting by the likes of Nitish Rana and Rahul Tripathi and an all-round bowling performance has helped Kolkata Knight Riders notch up a ten-run  100th IPL win over SunRisers Hyderabad in Chennai.

Chasing 188 to win, SunRisers Hyderabad gt off to the worse possible start as they lost both of their openers in skipper David Warned and keeper Wriddhiman Saha inside the first three overs.

Warner got a lucky reprieve in the first over after Pat Cummins shelled his mistimed cut shot off Harbhajan Singh. He wasn’t second-time lucky though as he nicked off to Dinesh Karthik against the bowling of Prasidh Krishna.

Twitter Reacts As Kolkata Knight Riders Successfully Defend 187 Against SunRisers Hyderabad To Pick Up Their 100th IPL Win
Shakib Al Hasan after dismissing Wriddhiman Saha [Image-IPLT20]
Wriddhiman Saha had announced himself with an inside-out six off Harbhajan Singh in the first over but he couldn’t do much after that as horribly misjudged the length of the delivery bowled by Shakib Al Hasan.

Saha rocked back in an attempt to cut Shakib but could only manage to chop it on his stumps.

Jonny Bairstow announced himself with an inside-out six off Shakib before Manish Pansey hoicked the left-arm spinner for a four towards mid-on and then a six for a long-off.

After having top-edges Russell for a boundary, Bairstow laid into the Kolkata Knight Riders’ all-rounder in the 8th over as he smoked him for a pull over mid-wicket for a six and four to take SunRisers Hyderabad to 2/60 after 8.

Twitter Reacts As Kolkata Knight Riders Successfully Defend 187 Against SunRisers Hyderabad To Pick Up Their 100th IPL Win
Jonny Bairstow [Image-IPLT20]
Bairstow (55 off 40 balls) looked in imperious touch. The right-hander welcomed Pat Cummins in the attack with a disdainful four over his head as the duo racked up a 50-run-stand for the 3rd wicket. The English swashbuckler continued to chip away by getting boundaries consistently. He 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 after he picked out Nitish Rana while trying to cut the fast bowler towards the point region. With Bairstow gone, the onus was now on Manish Pandey 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.

Twitter Reacts As Kolkata Knight Riders Successfully Defend 187 Against SunRisers Hyderabad To Pick Up Their 100th IPL Win
Manish Pandey [Image-IPLT20]
The equation eventually boiled down to 69 off the last 30 balls. SRH promoted Mohammad Nabi in the batting order in a bid to get some quick runs and although he stroked a four and a six during his 11-ball stay, he died for the cause after he mistimed an attempted hoike on a slower delivery by Krishna to give an easy catch to Eoin Morgan at short-cover.

Pandey brought up his 50 in 37 balls but with 54 required off just 22 deliveries, SunRisers Hyderabad needed something sensational to overhaul  Kolkata Knight Riders’ total. Vijay Shankar was sent ahead of the likes of Abdul Samad and the move did not work as the all-rounder managed a 7-ball 11 before he holed out against Andre Russell, leaving the final equation to 38 off 12 deliveries.

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Samad smoked Pat Cummins for a monstrous six on the first ball of the 19th over and then backed it up with another one- this time over long-on. The equation eventually boiled down to 22 off the last six balls. However, Andre Russell held his nerve in the last over and ensured that he sealed a win for the Kolkata Knight Riders.

 

Nitish Rana and Rahul Tripathi’s whirlwind knocks propelled Kolkata Knight Riders to 6/187 against SunRisers Hyderabad

Batting first, the duo of Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana took apart the SRH seam bowlers in Sandeep Sharma and T Natarajan.

While Nitish Rana took the liking to Sandeep Sharma as he smashed the swing bowler for five boundaries across two overs, Shubman Gill, on the other hand, played some sumptuous strokes, none better than the lofted on-drive that he hit off T Natarajan for a six.

KKR raced their way to 0/50 after six overs before Rashid Khan struck gold in just his first over.

Twitter Reacts As Kolkata Knight Riders Successfully Defend 187 Against SunRisers Hyderabad To Pick Up Their 100th IPL Win
Rashid Khan [Iimage-IPLT20]]
Khan gave the wrong un a bit of air and proceeded to deceive Shubman Gill with his flight and dip.

Gill, who was already on one knee for the attempted slog-sweep, was left to rue his decision to do the same as he heard the death rattle of the stumps.

However, Nitish Rana continued to blaze away at the other end. After three quiet overs between 6-9, Rana broke the shackles by smashing Vijay Shankar for a four and six to bring up 50 in just 37 balls.

Nitish Rana
Nitish Rana [Image-IPLT20]
Rana smashed a couple of sixes in the next two overs to bring up Kolkata Knight Riders’ 100 in just 11.3 overs.

Rahul Tripathi came out with positive intent and breezed his way to a 21-ball 34 with the help of four fours and one six as the duo racked up 73 runs in just seven overs to take the Knight Riders to 1/126 after 14.

With the duo going at great guns, David Warner turned to his trump card in Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the 15th over but Nitish Rana welcomed him with a four past point and then Tripathi deposited him into the midwicket stands for a six.

Kolkata Knight Riders, SunRisers Hyderabad, Rahul Tripathi [Image-IPLT20
Rahul Tripathi [Image-IPLT20]
And, as if that wasn’t enough, Tripathi then cheekily dabbed Bhuvi past third man for consecutive boundaries to bring up his half-century.

Tripathi’s (53 off 29 balls) onslaught finally came to an end after he skied an attempted hoike across the line off T Natarajan, only to see Wriddhiman Saha complete a juggling catch.

Twitter Reacts As Kolkata Knight Riders Successfully Defend 187 Against SunRisers Hyderabad To Pick Up Their 100th IPL Win
Mohammad Nabi [Image-IPLT20]
Tripathi’s wicket caused a mini-collapse as Rashid Khan knocked over 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.

 

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