Match Recap

Sunrisers Hyderabad consigned Kolkata Knight Riders to their fifth straight defeat of the VIVO IPL after defeating them by comfortable nine wickets in Game 38 on Sunday evening, keeping themselves in the running for the Playoffs. Choosing to bowl first after winning the toss, SRH’s bowlers, led by Man of the Match Khaleel Ahmed’s 3-33, restricted KKR to 159-8 in their 20 overs, before cantering home with nine wickets and five overs to spare.

SRH openers David Warner and Jonny Bairstow continued to pile on the runs with their fourth 100-plus stand in the VIVO IPL, flaying the KKR bowlers to all parts of the ground, with Bairstow also benefitting from some sloppy fielding from the opposition as he was dropped on 1 off debutant Prithvi Raj. The SRH openers made the opposition pay adding 131 runs to virtually kill off the game by the 13^th over when Warner finally perished to the KKR debutant for 67 from 38 balls. Bairstow and SRH captain Kane Williamson ensured no further hiccups to close out the game quickly.

Earlier, KKR began their innings in thrilling fashion with openers Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine racing away to 42 in just 2.3 overs, before Khaleel Ahmed struck to remove the dangerous Narine with a slower delivery, after being hit for 6, 4 and 4 off his first three balls. Narine’s wicket – he had scored 25 off just 8 balls – sparked a procession for KKR, who made three changes to their side after their heart-breaking defeat to Royal Challengers Bangalore, as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals.

The defeat puts KKR in a spot of bother with a mad dash to the Playoffs approaching, and the decision to send an in-form Andre Russell at No. 7 with a little over 4 overs remaining was befuddling. Lynn’s half-century, uncharacteristic by his own standards, kept the runs coming for KKR even as they kept losing wickets from the other end. Russell’s pyrotechnics, however, were limited to two sixes (15 off 9 balls) as he was removed by Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the penultimate over of the innings.

Standout batting performance

Bairstow unbeaten 80, off just 43 balls, contained seven fours and four sixes in a brutal assault on the KKR bowlers on Sunday evening. The English wicketkeeper-batsman continued his rich vein of form in the competition, and followed up his unbeaten 61 against Chennai Super Kings with another undefeated knock. Bairstow matched his opening partner Warner stroke for stroke as they raided 72 runs in the Powerplay, brought up his fifty off 28 balls, and finished off the game in a hurry after losing his opening partner as the SRH openers continued to dominate the run charts in the competition.

David Warner brought up 500 runs in the 2019 VIVO IPL during his 38-ball 67 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, his innings giving the SRH chase the impetus they needed at the beginning of the innings. Warner’s innings included three fours and five towering sixes as none of the KKR bowlers were spared, including spinner Piyush Chawla. This is the fifth time David Warner has scored more than 500 runs in a VIVO IPL season.

Notable Support Act – Batting

Chris Lynn had to shift down a few gears after getting KKR off to a blinding start today, as he lost his explosive opening partner early, but settled down to bring up his third half-century of the 2019 season. Despite this being his slowest VIVO IPL half-century, Lynn’s contribution was invaluable for KKR as they kept losing wickets from the other end, and it was their opening batsman who held the innings together.

Standout bowling performance

Khaleel Ahmed continued to impress for SRH with another inspiring spell of fast bowling, which included the wicket of Sunil Narine, who threatened to take the game away for KKR in the Powerplay, as they had raced to 42 in just 2.3 overs. Khaleel’s variations of pace accounted for the wicket of Shubman Gill soon after, and he came back in the death overs to remove the well-set Chris Lynn for 51 to return figures of 3-33 from his four overs.

Notable Support Act – Bowling

Bhuvneshwar Kumar was taken for runs in the early exchanges, but returned to remove Nitish Rana shortly after the Powerplay, and after being hit for two sixes by Andre Russell in the death overs, came back strongly to remove the competition’s most dangerous finisher as KKR were restricted to 159 in their 20 overs, while SRH’s most experienced fast bowler finished with figures of 2-37.

Brief Scores:

Kolkata Knight Riders 159-8 (Chris Lynn 51, Rinku Singh 30, Khaleel Ahmed 3-33) lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad 161-1 in 15 overs (Jonny Bairstow 80*, David Warner 67, Prithvi Raj 1-29) by 9 wickets

Stat of the Match:

David Warner and Jonny Bairstow have now added 786 runs for the opening wicket for SRH, the most by an opening combination in VIVO IPL history.

Man of the Match:

Khaleel Ahmed, for his figures of 3-33 from four overs.