IPL 2018: Match 54 - Kolkata Knight Riders Beats Sunrisers Hyderabad by 5 Wickets

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) booked their place in the playoffs, as they beat table-topper Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by five wickets in their must-win clash at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.

With three teams now qualified for the playoffs, one place will be up for grab in the last round of league games.

Batting first, Hyderabad got off to a flier banking on Shikhar Dhawan and Sreevats Goswami. The pair added 79 runs for the first wicket in 8.1 overs before Goswami (35) departed. Skipper Kane Williamson then joined Dhawan to take on the proceedings.

The Knight Riders’ bowlers found it tough to make inroads to Hyderabad batting. They got past the 100-run mark in the 11th over with Williamson once again taking the onus.

However, Williamson will curse on himself for not capitalizing on the start, as he fell after getting set. Javon Searles removed him at the score of 36 from 17 balls.

Pandey, who registered his highest score in the last match went to the middle to join Dhawan, who was looking good. Unfortunately, Dhawan departed immediately after reaching his 32nd IPL fifty.

Since then, it was one-way traffic, as Prasidh Krishna derailed the Hyderabad batting unit. Andre Russell and Sunil Narine provided well support, as the host failed to make any kind of impact.

However, Pandey watchful knock of 25 runs guided SRH to 172 runs at the end of their quota of 20 overs.

In reply, meanwhile, Narine and Chris Lynn set the platform for the chase for Kolkata. The pair added 52 runs for the first wicket before Narine departed within four overs.

Kolkata’s ever reliant Robin Uthappa then joined Lynn, as they looked well in line to chase down the target. The swashbuckling Australian form will certainly come in as a huge boost for the Kolkata based side.

However, Lynn departed scoring 55 runs from 43 balls with the help of four boundaries and three sixes.

Kolkata were reeling at 119 for two when skipper Dinesh Karthik walked into the middle. The pair batted responsibly, as Kolkata inched closer to the target easily. However, Uthappa departed five short of his fifty, as he knicked one to the watchful eyes of Goswami.

With five runs needed from the last six balls, Karthik (25*) led his team over the rope with five wickets remaining.

Meanwhile, Kolkata will look to continue this winning momentum going into the playoffs.

Brief Score: SRH 172/9 (Dhawan 50, Prasidh 4/30) lost to KKR 173/5 (Lynn 55, Kaul 2/26) by five wickets.

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