IPL 2018, KKR vs SRH: 5 Talking points

Splendid fielding and aggressive captaincy was the highlight of Sunrisers Hyderabad's win over Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday as Kane Williamson's side made it three wins out of three in the 2018 IPL.

Two former Knights, Shakib al Hasan and Manish Pandey, played a crucial role in SRH's first-ever victory at Eden Gardens as the hosts have now lost two consecutive matches after getting their tournament off to a winning start against RCB.

Here are the 5 major talking points from today's match.

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#5 Too many mis-hits mars KKR innings

While SRH were terrific on the field with their bowling and fielding right on the money, none of the KKR batsmen had a particularly good day at the office, including top-scorer Chris Lynn.

While the Australian hit seven boundaries and a six in his knock of 49 off 34 balls, it was not the type of clean hitting we normally associate with the big-hitting 28-year-old.

Andrew Russell also sliced two hits and while he got away with the first one, the second one led to his dismissal with Manish Pandey taking a spectacular catch running backwards.

There were many other instances where the ball fell just short of the fielders or sneaked towards the boundary after a sliced top edge and it was always going to be a difficult task to defend a low total such as 138 for the hosts and so it proved in the end.

#4 Spinners bring back KKR into the contest

Narine dismissed both the SRH openers in successive overs to put the visitors in a spot of bother

Following a splendid performance by their bowlers and fielders, the SRH opening pair of Wridhiman Saha and an in-form Shikhar Dhawan started off brilliantly in their run-chase of the target of 139 scoring 32 runs off the first three overs.

With pace failing to make an impact, KKR skipper Dinesh Karthik opted for the spin of Sunil Narine and the West Indian struck right away dismissing Saha off his very first delivery and followed it up with Dhawan's wicket in the very next over.

Kuldeep Yadav joined in the action dismissing Manish Pandey and suddenly SRH found themselves in a spot of bother at 55/3 and if not for that brilliant partnership between Willamson and Al Hasan, the match could have been much more thrilling towards the end.

#3 Shakib Al Hasan returns to hurt his former employees

Shakib shined with both bat and ball to help SRH defeat his former employees

Bangladesh's star all-rounder Al Hasan spent seven long seasons with KKR before the Kolkata-based franchise opted for fresh faces at the 2018 IPL auctions.

The decision came back to haunt the hosts on Saturday as the 31-year-old starred with both bat and ball to help his side SRH defeat his former employees.

His four overs yielded just 21 runs for KKR while he also picked up the wickets of top-scorer Lynn, with a brilliant return catch diving to his left, as well as Narine.

While Al Hasan was always depended upon with the ball, there was a feeling that KKR didn't make full use of his services as a batsman but if today's match is anything to go by, SRH seems to have a much better plan in mind to make full use of the all-rounder.

With the KKR spinners making life uncomfortable for the visitors, Al Hasan walked into the bat at 55/3 and he used all his experience to forge a vital partnership with his skipper at a time when the team needed it the most.

He might have failed to stick around till the end but his contribution of 27 off 21 balls, and more importantly his 59-run stand with Williamson, was crucial in SRH's victory.

#2 Pandey's blinders to dismiss Nitish Rana and Andre Russell

Manish Pandey celebrates after taking a ripper to send Andre Russel back to the pavilion

Nitish Rana walked into the crease following Robin Uthappa's dismissal and though the 24-year-old managed to get off the mark right away with a boundary off the first ball, he struggled against the pace of Billy Stanlake managing just two runs off the fourth over of the KKR innings.

He made amends though, scoring 12 runs off the final powerplay over bowled by Rashid Khan, including a massive slog sweep six off a googly before rain interrupted play.

Any hopes Rana would have had to carry on from his positive start was thwarted soon after play resumed with Pandey taking a spectacular catch at point off Stanlake's bowling after fumbling his initial attempt.

The ball was cut hard to Pandey and the 28-year-old reacted in time to catch the ball just before it hit the ground and he was not done for the day.

He nearly pulled off another great catch, this time of Narine, at the long on boundary, as he pushed the ball back inside the ropes after initially but just couldn't take it clean as he dived back into the ground. Nevertheless, he did save five runs for his side.

Pandey did manage to send another West Indian back into the pavilion and it was the dangerous Russell who couldn't recreate his magic against CSK again as Pandey took a splendid diving catch after running back from backward point with Stanlake the beneficiary yet again.

#1 All-round performance on the field wins it for SRH

Sunrisers Hyderabad have played collectively as a unit

A lot has been said about the way Kane Williamson has led his side in David Warner's absence and he was brilliant yet again with his captaincy against KKR and got the full backing of his bowlers and fielders as well.

Williamson's bowling changes worked wonders yet again, especially with Man-of-the-Match Billy Stanlake striking on both his return spells, first to dismiss Rana and then the dangerous Russell, with Pandey taking a ripper on both occasions.

Pandey nearly pulled off another spectacular catch at the long-on boundary but couldn't quite grasp the second attempt after he pulled the ball back in within the ropes but nonetheless saved five runs for his side.

Deepak Hooda also made a brilliant attempt at the point boundary, scooping the ball back in but not before he had managed to get his foot off the ropes.

The bowlers were spectacular for SRH as usual, especially Al Hasan, Stanlake and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, with the latter proving his class after being left out of SRH's previous game.

The batsmen still had a job to do despite chasing an under-par target of 139 and though they had a few hiccups along the way, it was three out of three and a ticket to the top of the IPL 2018 standings for SRH.