The impressive Sunrisers Hyderabad visited Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Garden for the 10th game of the IPL 2018. It was expected to be a tight contest as both teams had shown good signs of form but as it turned out, SRH proved to be too good for the hosts and achieved their 3rd victory on the trot.
Once again, the decision to field first after winning the toss was taken and this time by Kane Williamson. Chris Lynn found a new opening partner in Robin Uthappa this time. But the decision to replace him with Sunil Narine didn’t work out well as he got out after scoring just 3 to Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Lynn was striking the ball well and the No.3 batsman Nitish Rana joined hands with him to take the score to 52/1 after 7 overs. That’s when the rain gods decided to interrupt and the players had to be taken off. After a halt of an hour, the play resumed without any reduction in the number of overs.
Rain break affected KKR’s flow
The interruption didn’t help the hosts’ cause as Rana got out in the same over after resumption. Narine walked out to bat at No.4 but he didn’t look as comfortable at the new spot as he is at the top of the order. Lynn kept going and the score reached 70/2 after 10 overs. Shakib Al Hasan struck gold when he removed Narine and Lynn in the space of 2 overs to send the hosts on the back foot.
Andre Russell came to the crease with a clear intention to go for the big shots. He did succeed in sending one over the ropes but he skied the next ball of Billy Stanlanke only to be caught and had to walk back for 9. Shubman Gill, the new-comer, found it hard in the middle and could only manage 3 runs off 9 balls as Bhuvneshwar bagged another.
The skipper Dinesh Karthik stayed there for a while and attempted to up the ante. He managed to collect a couple of boundaries but Bhuvneshwar was too good for him as the pacer bagged his 3rd wicket. KKR barely managed to reach 138/8 at the end of 20 overs and fell well short of a competitive total.
A comfortable chase for SRH
The SRH innings got off to a good start as Wriddhiman Saha went on the attack. After 3 overs, they reached 32 but Saha’s stay came to an end courtesy Sunil Narine in the 4th over. Williamson was in at No.3 and the skipper played with responsibility. But Dhawan, who hardly had the strike thus far, fell prey to Narine in the 6th over.
The scoring rate wasn’t too great and SRH lost another wicket in the form of Manish Pandey who made just 4 off 11 balls. Shakib Al Hasan combined well with his skipper and the duo brought substance to the chase. They brought the fifty partnership in the 14th over when the score reached 102/3.
SRH were just a few steps away from the victory when they lost Shakib and Williamson in a quick succession. Williamson got out in the 18th over but not before scoring a half-century. The formality of getting the remaining runs was completed by Yusuf Pathan and Deepak Hooda as SRH won the match by 5 wickets and jumped to the top of the table.
Match Summary
Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and opted to bowl first
Kolkata Knight Riders: 138/8 in 20 overs
Chris Lynn 49 (34), Dinesh Karthik 29 (27)
Bhuvneshwar Kumar 26/3 (4), Billy Stanlake 21/2 (4)
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 139/5 in 19 overs
Kane Williamson 50 (44), Shakib Al Hasan 27 (21)
Sunil Narine 17/2 (4), Piyush Chawla 20/1 (4)
Sunrisers Hyderabad won by 5 wickets
Player of the Match: Billy Stanlake
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