Kolkata Knight Riders bounced back in the home leg in style by notching up a comprehensive 35-run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad on Monday. Defending a fighting total of 167, KKR were given a rollicking start by their speedster Umesh Yadav, who castled dangerman David Warner (4) and Naman Ojha (0) in the first over, and the visitors failed to recover from the double blow to finish at 132 for nine.
The KKR spin duo of Brad Hogg (2/17) and Piyush Chawla (1/16) tightened the noose further around SRH, handing them their third defeat in as many outings at the Eden Gardens. While their top batsmen failed to impress, Moises Henriques (41 from 33 balls) and Karn Sharma (32 from 20) put up a fight, but it proved to be too late, too little for Sunrisers.
From 55 for no loss in the first six overs the hosts were reduced to 86/3 in 12 with the Sharma duo — Karn and Bipul — conceding just 52 runs between them in eight overs while taking the crucial wickets of Gautam Gambhir (31), Robin Uthappa (30) and Andre Russell (1). left-arm spinner Bipul (1/23) ran out Manish Pandey (33), before Yusuf Pathan slammed 30 off 19 balls to lift his side’s total to 167.
In reply, SRH batting fell like nine pins after Umesh Yadav rocked the top-order with his twin blow in his first over, including the prized scalp of Warner. The SRH captain, who has struck five half-centuries already this season, got going with a boundary but Yadav bounced back in the next ball to disturb his off stump. Yadav went on to castle Ojha for a duck in the last ball of the first over to leave SRH reeling at 6/2.
SRH’s Indian star Shikhar Dhawan played an irresponsible shot and got out to Hogg in his first over. Nothing going their away, SRH somehow bolstered their hopes with Henriques slamming Pathan for two sixes and one four to collect 19 runs and lift their run-rate, but KKR kept taking wickets at regular intervals.
The spin duo of Karn and Bipul bowled tidily and a flurry of dot balls followed after the dismissal of the KKR skipper. The tight bowling was aided by some smart fielding with SRH skipper Warner leading the show with a stunning flying catch at cover to dismiss Uthappa. Bipul opened his account with Russell miscuing one to Morgan and he had it easy with the ball landing safe inside the boundary.
Brief Scores
Kolkata Knight Riders: 167/7 in 20 overs (Manish Pandey 33; Karn Sharma 2/29) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad: 132/9 in 20 overs (Moises Henriques 41; Brad Hogg 2/17) by 35 runs.