KKR snatch nervy victory against SRH in Hyderabad

The Kolkata Knight Riders pulled off a stunning heist to beat the Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday, snatching a five-run victory after the hosts capitulated in their chase at home. The Men in Orange were cruising in pursuit of 172, needing just 48 off the final six overs, but lost their way as Klaasen and Markram fell in quick succession before Varun Chakravarthy sealed KKR’s victory with a phenomenal spell of death bowling.

Kolkata’s win took them above Hyderabad into eighth place on the table, keeping their playoff hopes alive with four wins from ten matches this season.

Batting first, KKR suffered a poor start as Marco Jansen wreaked havoc with the new ball using his extra bounce. Rahmanullah Gurbaz charged the South African seamer, but only ended up skying one to Harry Brook, while Venkatesh Iyer gloved a short one to the keeper. Jason Roy found a few boundaries early but edged Kartik Tyagi to short third, leaving KKR in trouble at 35 for 3.

Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh led the visitor’s revival following the early setback. The pair stabilised the innings through the middle and went after the erratic Tyagi, taking 17 runs from his second over to put Kolkata in a strong position at 90 for 3 at the halfway stage. Andre Russell extended Rana’s momentum after the captain’s dismissal, thumping Markande and Markram for sixes to set up a grandstand finish.

Unfortunately for KKR, Russell’s dismissal in the 15th over took the sting out of their innings, with wickets falling in clusters at the death and just 42 runs coming off the final 30 balls to limit KKR to 171 for 9.

The SRH openers scored 29 runs in 2.3 overs in response but departed in quick succession to kickstart a brief top-order collapse. Rahul Tripathi paddle-swept Russell to deep fine leg after hitting the all-rounder for three boundaries, while Anukul Roy trapped Harry Brook for a duck, reducing SRH to 54 for 4. The South African pair of Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen guided Hyderabad’s recovery through the middle. The duo weathered the initial storm against the spinners before picking the right moments to attack.

Klaasen launched Anukul Roy for two giant maximums while Markram carved Chakravarthy for two boundaries to end the 12th over. Their partnership took SRH to a comfortable place, needing 48 off 36, but the slide started when the golden arm of Shardul Thakur removed Klaasen for 36.

SRH lost their way in the final five overs with Klaasen back in the hut. Vaibhav Arora picked up the key wickets of Markram and Jansen, while Varun Chakravarthy conceded just eight runs in the 18th and 20th overs despite bowling with a wet ball, leading KKR to a nervy five-run victory.