Kolkata snatch victory from the jaws of defeat

Kolkata Knight Riders held their nerves to beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by five runs in a IPL 2023 clash at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday.

After opting to bat, Kolkata posted 171 for nine in their 20 overs and in their response Hyderabad finished on 166 for eight in their 20 overs.

Earlier, Kolkata was struggling at 35 for three and was finding it difficult to stay afloat. Then a 61 run fourth wicket stand between skipper Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh to revive the innings. Then Rinku teamed up with Andre Russell to add 31 runs for the fifth wicket. Towards the end Anukul Roy also tried to use the long handle to good effect. In the end Kolkata finished on 171 for nine in their 20 overs. For Hyderabad the best bowlers were Marco Jansen (2-24) and T Natarajan (2-30).

In their response, Hyderabad lost their top-order cheaply. They were reduced to 54 for four. Then skipper Aiden Markram teamed up with Heinrich Klaasen. It was hoped that this 70 run fifth wicket stand would revive the chase. But once Klaasen fell the innings lost its way and in the end Hyderabad needed nine runs off the last over. Hyderabad finished on 166 for eight in their 20 overs. For Kolkata the best bowlers were Vaibhav Arora (2-32) and Shardul Thakur (2-23). 

Match Summary

Kolkata Knight Riders: 171-9 (20)
Fall of wickets: 1-8 (Rahmanullah Gurbaz-1.1 ov), 2-16 (Venkatesh Iyer-1.6 ov), 3-35 (Jason Roy-4.4 ov), 4-96 (Nitish Rana-11.2 ov), 5-127 (Andre Russell-14.2 ov), 6-130 (Sunil Narine, 15.3 ov), 7-151 (Shardul Thakur-17.3 ov), 8-168 (Rinku Singh-19.2 ov), 9-168 (Harshit Rana-19.3 ov)

Sunrisers Hyderabad: 166-8 (20)
Fall of wickets: 1-29 (Mayank Agarwal-2.5 ov), 2-37 (Abhishek Sharma-3.5 ov), 3-53 (Rahul Tripathi-5.3 ov), 4-54 (Harry Brook-6.2 ov), 5-124 (Heinrich Klaasen-14.1 ov), 6-145 (Aiden Markram-16.5 ov), 7-152 (Marco Jansen-18.1 ov), 8-165 (Abdul Samad-19.3 ov)

Playing XIs

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Mayank Agarwal, Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram (captain), Heinrich Klaasen (wicket-keeper), Harry Brook, Abdul Samad, Marco Jansen, Mayank Markande, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kartik Tyagi, T Natarajan; Subs: Rahul Tripathi, Vivrant Sharma, Glenn Phillips, Nitish Reddy, Sanvir Singh

Impact player: Rahul Tripathi for T Natarajan (2nd innings, 2.5 ov)

Kolkata Knight Riders: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wicket-keeper), Jason Roy, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana (captain), Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy
Kolkata Knight Riders; Subs: Suyash Sharma, Anukul Roy, N Jagadeesan, Lockie Ferguson, Kulwant Khejroliya

Impact player: Anukul Roy for Jason Roy (1st innings, 17.3 ov)

Match Details

Toss: Kolkata Knight Riders, elected to bat
Venue: Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad
Start time: 1400 hrs GMT
Match officials: KN Ananthapadmanabhan, Michael Gough (On-field Umpires); Saidharshan Kumar (TV Umpire); Parashar Joshi (Reserve Umpire); Narayanan Kutty (Match-referee)