Kolkata Knight Riders stacked 175 runs on Friday night hoping that would be enough to outclass the Sunrisers Hyderabad at Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium. But hardly had they known the plans of Rahul Tripathi and Aiden Markram for the chase. The duo stitched a remarkable 94-run stand for the third wicket to lay the foundation for Sunrisers’ third consecutive win in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022.
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Tripathi and Markram got together after Sunrisers had lost their first two wickets for 39 runs. The former KKR batter top-scored with 74 runs, including 4 boundaries and 6 sixes, while Markram remained undefeated with 68 off 36 deliveries, hitting six boundaries and four sixes as SRH cruised to victory with 13 balls to spare. They launched calculated attacks, hit big sixes and kept the Kolkata Knight Riders bowlers on the tenterhooks with their superb hitting.
Their collective efforts overshadowed the fabulous knock played by Nitish Rana in the previous innings. The KKR batter came to the rescue with the side getting reduced to 31/3 in the fifth over. He played a well-controlled knock of 54 off 36 deliveries, with the help of six fours and two sixes.
After the loss, KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer admitted that Tripathi didn’t give a single chance to the bowlers of taking control. Speaking with the broadcasters, the former said the unit put up a great batting show but it turned out to be a bad day for them.
“Feeling very drained. I thought it was a good total. To be honest, Tripathi came in and changed the moment and didn’t allow us to settle. Their bowlers executed the stuff well as the ball was seaming. As batters, we were settled at the end of the powerplay and put a great effort as a batting unit. Was an off day as a bowling unit,” Iyer said.
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The 7-wicket win took SRH to the seventh spot on the points table, ahead of the likes of DC, CSK and MI. While KKR slipped from second to the fourth spot with a net run-rate of +0.223.
The Sunrisres will face Punjab Kings in their next fixture on Sunday at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbain. The Kolkata Knight Riders will take on Rajasthan Royals on Monday at Brabourne Stadium.
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