Published: Apr 15, 2017, 07:39 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 29, 2017, 06:13 PM (IST)
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) had never won a match at Eden Gardens. They undoubtedly have the most lethal bowling attack, but it is the slow nature of the track that their batters could not exploit. In match 14 of Indian Premier League (IPL), SRH suffered a 17-run defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Gautam Gambhir and David Warner believed the track would not change throughout the match. Robin Uthappa, on the other hand, said that it will get quicker under the lights. But none of that happened. If anything, SRH batters could not get into groove and often failed to time the ball. LIVE CRICKET SCORECARD: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) – Match 14 at Kolkata
Yuvraj Singh hit two fours and as many sixes. When he bats, neither the quality of bowling or slowness of the track that matters. However, after an attractive 26, he too fell for a slower short ball. Before that, Shikhar Dhawan and Warner had scored 49 runs between them, but they took 52 balls. In a pursuit of 173, against a bowing unit that has Sunil Narine and Kuldeep Yadav, such start was never going to take them to the final lap. READ MORE: FULL UPDATES
The credit goes to KKR bowlers for keeping SRH at bay. The spin trio of Narine, Kuldeep and Yusuf Pathan gave away only 43 runs off 9 overs between them, taking 3 crucial wickets of Warner, Dhawan, and Deepak Hooda. Meanwhile, the pacers leaked plenty but they, barring Umesh Yadav, took 3 wickets as well.
In the last match, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the better bowler than the any of the winning team’s. He ended with 3 for 21. Today, for that matter, was not any different. He finished with 3 for 20 in a losing cause. He, however, continues to be at the top of the list of highest wicket-taker’s list.
Bhuvneshwar took an all-important wicket of Narine for 6. He then went on to dismiss Manish Pandey, but only after the KKR maestro scored a vital 46.
Amidst all this, Uthappa scored his 19th half-century. He blasted 68 off 39 inclusive of 5 fours and 4 sixes. He was rightly adjudged Man of the Match for his stunning performance.
KKR now have jumped to the top of the points table.
Brief scores:
Kolkata Knight Riders 172 for 6 in 20 overs (Robin Uthappa 68, Manish Pandey 46; Bhuvneshwar 3 for 20; Rashid Khan 1 for 29) vs Sunrisers Hyderabad 155 for 6 in 20 overs (David Warner 26, Yuvraj Singh 26; Chris Woakes 2 for 49, Sunil Narine 1 for 18) by 17 runs.
Man of the Match: Robin Uthappa
