At their home ground, the iconic Eden Gardens, KKR batted first after losing the toss and scored 172 for 6 in their 20 overs. Robin Uthappa, riding on the back of some indifferent umpiring as well as dropped catches, top scored with 68 off 39 balls and Manish Pandey scored a classy 46.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the pick of the SRH bowlers as he scalped 3 wickets for just 20.
In reply, the SRH got a good start from Dhawan and Warner as they added 46 in under 7 overs, but as soon as Dhawan was dismissed, they collapsed, ending with 155 for the loss of 6 wickets to lose the match by 17 runs. Everyone from the top 6 got a start but no one could score more than 26. The KKR spinners bowled beautifully to return combined figures of 3 for 43 off 9 overs.
Let’s rate the players from this match on a scale of 1 to 10:
Kolkata Knight Riders
Robin Uthappa – 9
Uthappa made the most of his reprieve today after he was ruled not out by the umpire off the first ball he faced despite having edged the ball to the keeper. He played an aggressive innings of 68 off 39 balls with 5 fours and 4 sixes to help take KKR to a good score.
Sunil Narine – 8
After unexpectedly starring with the bat in the last match, Narine was asked to open the innings again today but couldn’t repeat his performance as he was bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar for 6 in only the 3rd over of the innings.
He bowled like he always does in the IPL – miserly as well as wicket-taking – as he picked up Deepak Hooda and conceded just 18 runs off his 4 overs.
Manish Pandey – 8
Manish came in at No. 4 at the fall of the skipper’s wicket and strung together a crucial partnership of 77 with Uthappa to set a strong base for KKR’s lower middle order to launch from. He was sedate in the partnership, letting Uthappa do the hitting, but after his dismissal, he took the role of the aggressor and ended with a score of 46 off 35 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes. His fielding in the inner circle was outstanding too.
Kuldeep Yadav – 8
Kuldeep started beautifully with the ball as he gave only 7 runs off his first 2 overs, that included 5 consecutive dot balls to Warner. In his third, he picked up the SRH captain, having him caught at long-off. He ended his spell with figures of 1 for 23 off 4 overs.
Yusuf Pathan – 7
Batting only for the second time this season, Yusuf did a good job as he scored a quick 21 off 15 balls towards the end of the innings, which included a massive six over long-on off Bhuvneshwar in the last over. With the ball, he gave his side a good start by breaking SRH’s opening partnership with Dhawan’s wicket.
Gautam Gambhir – 6
Skipper Gambhir had a rare off day with the bat today as he was castled by the wily Rashid Khan in his first over for just 15 off 16 deliveries. His captaincy was good as always as he made some smart bowling changes, especially with the use of his spinners, Narine, Kuldeep and Pathan. Holding ace bowler Woakes back till the 11th over turned out to be a great move too.
Chris Woakes – 6
Woakes came in to face just one delivery in the last over of the innings and scored a run off it. With the ball, he was brought on in the 11th over by the skipper, and responded with a wicket straightaway as he took a nice catch off his own bowling to send Henriques back, and Yuvraj Singh in his second over.
Though he was expensive in his 4 overs, the wickets he picked helped his side inch ahead in the contest.
Trent Boult – 6
Boult had an indifferent opening spell of 2 overs which included some boundaries as well as some good deliveries, but he leaked 18 runs in it. In his second spell, he came back strongly to dismiss the dangerous Ben Cutting off the first ball of the 18th over to put the final nail in SRH’s coffin. He conceded only 15 off his final 2 overs to end up with 1 for 33.
Umesh Yadav – 4
Umesh bowled a good opening spell, conceding only 13 in his first 2 overs. His spell towards the second half of the innings was not very impressive as Yuvraj and Hooda tore into him to take 15 off his third. Gambhir didn’t use him for his final over.
Suryakumar Yadav – 3
Surya didn’t have a big impact with the bat today as he could only score 4 off 3 deliveries before being dismissed by the wily Ashish Nehra in the 19th over.
Colin de Grandhomme – 3
Batting for the first time ever in the IPL, de Grandhomme had an outing to forget as he was clean bowled by Bhuvneshwar in the last over of the innings for a duck off 2 deliveries. With the ball, rather surprisingly, he wasn’t called on by skipper Gambhir at all, but he did contribute by taking 2 catches. His place might be in danger for the next match as Shakib Al Hasan is available for selection.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Bhuvneshwar Kumar – 9
SRH’s star bowler and one of India’s best with both the new and the old ball, Bhuvneshwar Kumar had a great day as he finished with figures of 3 for 20. He started by uprooting Sunil Narine’s off-stump in his second over and had a spell of 1 for 7 off 2 overs.
He came back to bowl the 18th and 20th overs and restricted the batsmen with his tight length to concede only 13 runs and pick up 2 wickets. His efforts went a long way in restricting KKR to 171 when 190 looked on.
Rashid Khan – 8
The find of the tournament so far, Afghan leg-spinner Rashid Khan continued his trend of picking up a wicket in his first over by dismissing KKR skipper Gambhir. He finished with impressive figures of 1 for 29 off 4 overs, and took a good catch to dismiss the dangerous Uthappa.
Ashish Nehra – 7
The veteran fast bowler was a little unlucky at times today but still didn’t have a bad spell, as he conceded 35 runs off his 4 overs and picked up the wicket of Suryakumar Yadav in his last. He almost had Uthappa out caught behind but the decision was overturned by the third umpire.
Yuvraj Singh – 6
Yuvraj Singh played a few delightful strokes to score a breezy 26 off 16 deliveries. His six off Umesh Yadav over long-off was one of the best shots of this IPL, and the six off Woakes was inspiring too. He wasn’t called on to bowl by Warner.
Ben Cutting – 6
Ben Cutting bowled his complete quota of 4 overs today and ended with figures of 1 for 41. The one wicket he took was Uthappa’s who was looking set for a hundred. With the bat, he tried his best to take his team over the line but his efforts were not enough as he scored 15 off 10 deliveries with a four and a six.
Bipul Sharma – 6
Left-arm spinner Bipul, brought back into the side today, bowled 2 overs and did a decent job, conceding 20. He was hit for a six in each of his 2 overs but otherwise restricted the batsmen well. With the bat, he scored an unbeaten 21 off just 14 deliveries to keep the chase alive till the last over but couldn’t win it for his side.
David Warner – 5
The SRH captain was smart with his bowling changes and field placings but looked off-color with the bat today as he could never really get going. He looked uncomfortable against the KKR spinners, especially Kuldeep Yadav, and eventually fell to him in the 10th over of the innings, having scored 26 off 30 deliveries with 4 fours.
Shikhar Dhawan – 5
Dhawan had a poor day in the field as he dropped Uthappa at the deep midwicket boundary and with the bat too, he started well with some boundaries but couldn’t convert it into a substantial score. He scored 23 off 22 with 4 fours and was dismissed by Yusuf Pathan.
Moises Henriques – 4
Henriques had an off day with the ball as he was smashed for 26 off just 2 overs and hence, wasn’t used by skipper Warner for his remaining two. With the bat too he didn’t make a big impact as he could only muster 13 off 10 deliveries before being sent back by Chris Woakes.
Deepak Hooda – 4
Hooda started with a big six off Kuldeep Yadav, but couldn’t sustain it as he was dismissed by Narine after scoring 13 off 7 deliveries with a six and a four. His dismissal left SRH in a tricky situation.
Naman Ojha – 4
Ojha took a great catch down the leg side to help dismiss Suryakumar Yadav, but his batting again didn’t take off as he scored an unbeaten 11 of an equal no. of deliveries without any boundaries, and couldn’t help his team get over the line.
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