IPL 2021: KKR vs SRH Review – Kolkata remain in playoff race with a win

Kolkata Knight Riders got two really important points, beating Sunrisers Hyderabad by six wickets at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday, October 3. On a slow-ish wicket, KKR managed to keep SRH down to a low score, but only managed to chase it down with two balls to spare. This was KKR’s sixth win in 13 matches, while this was Hyderabad’s 10th loss this season.

Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Kane Williamson won the toss and elected to bat first. In a season that has been filled with weirdness and poor performances, especially with the bat, they managed to add another episode. Williamson made 26, Priyam Garg scored 21 while Abdul Samad played a late cameo of 18 balls scoring 25 runs.

That was pretty much it as Hyderabad scamped to their score of 115 for 8 in their 20 overs. KKR’s bowlers had a good day. Tim Southee and Shivam Mavi picked up two wickets each. There were 12 overs of spin-bowling. Varun Chakravarthy ended with figures of 2 for 26 while Shakib Al Hasan took one scalp. Sunil Narine went wicketless, but gave only 12 runs in his four overs.

Chasing 116, KKR didn’t get off to an ideal start with the bat. Venkatesh Iyer made 8 while Rahul Tripathi got out for 8. Nitish Rana was patient in the third-wicket partnership, but his batting partner Shubman Gill, who played an attractive knock of 57 runs. After Gill was dismissed, Rana too got out for 25 runs. But, their effort had ensured KKR didn’t have too many hiccups as Dinesh Karthik finished off the chase with his cameo of 18 runs from just 12 balls.

Top performers:

Shubman Gill:

The chase wasn’t too tall but the pressure was on with two wickets down early. On top of that, Rana’s slow batting was increasing the scoreboard pressure. Gill managed to play the role of an aggressor constantly making sure that required rate never went too high. He hit 10 fours, most of which were beautiful to watch, during his 51-ball 57.

Shakib Al Hasan: The Bangladeshi spinner had a good day on his return to the XI. He bowled an economical spell giving only 20 runs from his four overs. He picked up the wicket of Abhishek Sharma and probably got the most important scalp with some great fielding. He ran out the Hyderabad skipper, Williamson, who was looking good for his 26 runs.

Personal achievements/records:

• Dinesh Karthik now has equalled the record of second-most stumpings in IPL with Robin Uthappa (32). MS Dhoni has 39 stumpings.
• Sunrisers’ score of 115 for 8 is their fourth-lowest total in the IPL.
• Bhuvneshwar Kumar played his 100th game for Sunrisers Hyderabad.
• Dinesh Karthik reached 4000 runs in the IPL.

Way ahead:

Kolkata will now meet Rajasthan on October 7 while Hyderabad will play Bangalore on October 6.