KOLKATA: Everything went right for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Thursday night as they returned to their winning ways. To top it all, skipper Ajinkya Rahane even came away happy with the Eden Gardens pitch for the first time this season!
Although KKR got off to yet another poor start after Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) skipper Pat Cummins put them in to bat, some incredible hitting by Venkatesh Iyer (60 off 29 balls; 7x4, 3x6) and Rinku Singh (32 not out off 17 balls; 4x4, 1x6) saw the hosts getting their first 200-run total this season.
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The total proved challenging on the slowish track. The ball did not come onto the bat as expected, neutering the power-packed SRH batting lineup, which folded for 120 in 16.4 overs to go down by 80 runs.
KKR, who struggled to get to 53/2 in the Powerplay, collected 78 runs losing two wickets in the last five overs to get to a respectable total. The Knights seized early initiative by reducing SRH to 9/3 within the first three overs. Apart from Heinrich Klaasen (33 off 21 balls), no one could put up any meaningful challenge as the visitors kept losing wickets at regular interval to fizzle out tamely, with Vaibhav Arora and Varun Chakravarthy picking up three wickets each.
Both sides went in with spin-heavy attacks. While the hosts opted for Moeen Ali in place of left-arm pacer Spencer Johnson, the visitors brought in Kamindu Mendis for Wiaan Mulder. Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvanshi (50 off 32 balls; 5x4, 2x6) steadied the KKR innings with an 81-run third-wicket stand off 51 balls. But KKR suffered a jolt, losing both the batters in quick succession.
Leg-spinner Zeeshan Ansari, after his three-for on debut for SRH in Vizag in the last game, provided the breakthrough by having Rahane caught behind by Klaasen. The KKR skipper got an edge while trying to reverse-sweep the spinner.
Raghuvanshi, who was dropped by Nitish Reddy at deep square-leg on 42 off Simarjeet Singh, got to his second IPL half-century in 30 balls. But he fell soon after to IPL debutant Mendis, the Sri Lankann getting the Mumbai batter caught by Harshal Patel at backward point.
The two new batters in the middle, Iyer and Rinku, initially struggled to get going before Iyer broke free by pulling Simarjeet for a six. Rinku joined the party soon, hitting a boundary in local boy Mohammed Shami’s last over and then striking Harshal Patel for three consecutive boundaries in the very next over as KKR reached 150 in 17.1 overs.
The duo got 17 runs off Simarjeet’s last over, with Iyer hitting him for two consecutive boundaries and Rinku finishing off with a straight six. Iyer got his first 50 in this IPL off just 25 balls, hitting Cummins for three fours and one six to collect 21 runs in the penultimate over.
The KKR vice-captain finally departed trying to clear Harshal for a six but was caught at long-on. The fifth-wicket stand between Iyer and Rinku yielded 91 runs off 41 balls.
No wonder Rahane said at the toss, “It looks good, I’m really happy with the pitch!”
Although KKR got off to yet another poor start after Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) skipper Pat Cummins put them in to bat, some incredible hitting by Venkatesh Iyer (60 off 29 balls; 7x4, 3x6) and Rinku Singh (32 not out off 17 balls; 4x4, 1x6) saw the hosts getting their first 200-run total this season.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel.
The total proved challenging on the slowish track. The ball did not come onto the bat as expected, neutering the power-packed SRH batting lineup, which folded for 120 in 16.4 overs to go down by 80 runs.
KKR, who struggled to get to 53/2 in the Powerplay, collected 78 runs losing two wickets in the last five overs to get to a respectable total. The Knights seized early initiative by reducing SRH to 9/3 within the first three overs. Apart from Heinrich Klaasen (33 off 21 balls), no one could put up any meaningful challenge as the visitors kept losing wickets at regular interval to fizzle out tamely, with Vaibhav Arora and Varun Chakravarthy picking up three wickets each.
Both sides went in with spin-heavy attacks. While the hosts opted for Moeen Ali in place of left-arm pacer Spencer Johnson, the visitors brought in Kamindu Mendis for Wiaan Mulder. Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvanshi (50 off 32 balls; 5x4, 2x6) steadied the KKR innings with an 81-run third-wicket stand off 51 balls. But KKR suffered a jolt, losing both the batters in quick succession.
Leg-spinner Zeeshan Ansari, after his three-for on debut for SRH in Vizag in the last game, provided the breakthrough by having Rahane caught behind by Klaasen. The KKR skipper got an edge while trying to reverse-sweep the spinner.
Raghuvanshi, who was dropped by Nitish Reddy at deep square-leg on 42 off Simarjeet Singh, got to his second IPL half-century in 30 balls. But he fell soon after to IPL debutant Mendis, the Sri Lankann getting the Mumbai batter caught by Harshal Patel at backward point.
The two new batters in the middle, Iyer and Rinku, initially struggled to get going before Iyer broke free by pulling Simarjeet for a six. Rinku joined the party soon, hitting a boundary in local boy Mohammed Shami’s last over and then striking Harshal Patel for three consecutive boundaries in the very next over as KKR reached 150 in 17.1 overs.
The duo got 17 runs off Simarjeet’s last over, with Iyer hitting him for two consecutive boundaries and Rinku finishing off with a straight six. Iyer got his first 50 in this IPL off just 25 balls, hitting Cummins for three fours and one six to collect 21 runs in the penultimate over.
The KKR vice-captain finally departed trying to clear Harshal for a six but was caught at long-on. The fifth-wicket stand between Iyer and Rinku yielded 91 runs off 41 balls.
No wonder Rahane said at the toss, “It looks good, I’m really happy with the pitch!”
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