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Sunrisers Hyderabad 174 for 7 [Saha 35, Rashid 34, Dhawan 34*, Kuldeep 2-29] beat Kolkata Knight Riders 161 for 9 [Lynn 48, Shubman Gill 30, Rashid 3-19, Brathwaite 2-16, Kaul 2-32] by 13 runs.
Kolkata: Rashid Khan scores 34-run off 10-ball cameo took Sunrisers Hyderabad to 174 before his three strikes in quick succession as SRH beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 13 runs at Eden Gardens here on Friday.
Rashid, who had smacked a 10-ball 34 not out, claimed figures of 4-0-19-3, bagging the wickets of Robin Uthappa, Chris Lynn and Andre Russell. He took 2 catches in the final over as well.
With 175 at stake, start was going to be crucial for both sides. KKR immediately got the upper hand courtesy Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine.
KKR had raced to 38 off their three overs, 20 runs more than what SRH were at that stage.
It was the third over of the innings from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, where Narine belted three fours and a six. The next over, Narine mistimed a loft off Siddarth Kaul to lose his wicket. However, he had done his job slamming 26 off just 13 balls.
K Khaleel Ahmed, who replaced Sandeep Sharma, clocked serious pace but his inexperience cost SRH. Nitish Rana, coming in at No.3 ahead of Robin Uthappa, used the 20-year-old left-armer’s speed to strike him for two sixes in the fifth over. Lynn welcomed Kaul in the next over with a 85-meter six over long-off.
Lynn, who had played the role of a passive opener, was allowed to break free. Why allowed? Lynn has struggled to score against spin this season, his strike rate being lesser than hundred. KKR had raced to 67 for 1 after Powerplay, the highest against SRH this season.
Rashid was immediately introduced and he almost struck off the first ball. SRH reviewed the first ball from Rashid what looked like a close LBW shout. Replays showed that Lynn had got a glove and Wriddhiman Saha failed to grab onto it.
Rana looked good during his brief stay and well executed a reverse sweep against Shakib Al Hasan. The next ball, Rana was dismissed run out going for a non-existent second run after slipping at the non striker’s end.
KKR were 93 for 2 in 10 overs where the self-implosion began. Robin Uthappa perished trying to reverse sweep Rashid. Dinesh Karthik had just rocked back to Rashid and bisected the long-on and deep midwicket for four. Trying to cut Shakib, DK perished. Two balls later, Lynn was trapped leg before by Rashid.
(Note: Earlier this year, Karthik had demolished the Shakib-led Bangladeshi bowling attack to help India win the Nidahas Trophy Final)
Andre Russell got a reprieve when Saha dropped him off Shakib but the Jamaican could not make use of the life and departed the following over to Rashid, handing him his third wicket. Trying to cut, he got a thick edge and Williamson had Shikhar Dhawan stationed at slip that was positioned back than usual. End of the 15th over, KKR just managed 25 off it and lost four wickets.
With the required rate mounting, Shubman Gill and Piyush Chawla had the tough job to negate the likes of Bhuvi and Kaul. Kaul sealed the fate of the game by cleaning up Chawla when the equation looked 30 off 12 balls.
KKR’s hopes were pinned on Gill till the final over but with the propelling required rate and fall of wickets, the match had slipped.
KKR had put SRH into bat and started with bowling tight lengths. Openers Saha and Dhawan looked good for a while but KKR spinners, Narine (4-0-24-1), Kuldeep Yadav (4-0-29-2) and Chawla (3-0-22-1) did exceptionally to have SRH reeling at 138 for 7 in the 18th over when the Rashid show began.
