In the 25th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) beat the in-form Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by seven wickets.
After winning the toss, Kane Williamson opted to field first. A good bowling performance from Umran Malik, Marco Jansen and T Natarajan restricted Kolkata Knight Riders to a total of 175 on a pitch that favoured batting.
Sunrisers Hyderabad had an underwhelming start to their run chase as openers Abhishek Sharma and Kane Williamson struggled against the bowlers in the powerplay. Williamson and Sharma were both sent back to the pavilion within the powerplay. Rahul Tripathi (71) and Aiden Markram (68*) were the two new batsmen at the crease. Tripathi shifted the momentum when he smashed 18 runs off the Varun Chakravarthy over. The Indian uncapped player and the Protea stitched a 94-run partnership for the third wicket, which changed the course of the game completely. Tripathi anchored the partnership while Markram played the supporting role. The 31-year-old was caught at long-on in the 15th over. Nicholas Pooran was the new batsman at the crease. The 24-year-old South African player who was playing submissive cricket so far, attacked in the latter part of the innings and concluded the chase with 13 balls to spare.
Nitish Rana (54) and Andre Russell (49*) were the top performers with the bat for the Knight Riders who helped the team to put up a competitive total.
Natarajan was the pick among the bowlers for the franchise with three wickets to his name. Malik gathered two while Jansen, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jagadeesha Suchith had one wicket each.
On the other end, Russell had two scalps while Pat Cummins got one wicket to his name.
Scorecard:
Kolkata Knight Riders: 175/8, Overs 20, Nitish Rana 54, T Natarajan 3/37
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 176/3, Overs 17.5, Rahul Tripathi 71, Andre Russell 2/20