Hyderabad: Kolkata Knight Riders advanced to the playoffs with a five-wicket win against already-qualified Sunrisers Hyderabad here on Saturday.
It was a fifty by Chris Lynn that took the visitors home, and a good contribution by Robin Uthappa (45 runs), which was equally important.
SRH never really got a chance to dominate, and it was a rare instance when they failed to defend a total.
KKR went past 50 in less than four overs, but lost Sunil Narine for 29.
It took exactly 10 overs for the hosts to get another wicket, as Siddarth Kaul removed Chris Lynn for 55.
The next big breakthrough for the hosts came when Uthappa departed, falling short of a 50.
With just five runs needed from the last over, Nitish Rana started the over with a boundary. However, Rana was dismissed for seven by Carlos Brathwaite in the very next ball.
More or less, despite this late strike by the West Indian bowler, Dinesh Karthik (26 not out) sealed the victory with two balls to spare, whereas Shubman Gill did not have to face a single ball.
KKR 149-3 from 16.3 overs
WICKET! Robin Uthappa falls short of a half-century, as he is dismissed for 45 by Carlos Brathwaite. Is this a consolation for SRH, or will they bounce back?
KKR 119-2 from 13.1 overs
WICKET! Siddarth Kaul provides the crucial breakthrough for SRH, as he removes dangerman Chris Lynn for 55.
KKR 100-1 after 11 overs
FIFTY! While KKR have got to their 100, Chris Lynn has got to his sixth IPL fifty, this one coming in 39 balls.
KKR 52-1 from 3.4 overs
WICKET! Shakib Al Hasan dismisses Sunil Narine for 29, as SRH finally find a breakthrough. The start was what KKR needed, but definitely not the wicket.
SRH innings
Sunrisers Hyderabad finished their innings at 172-9 against Kolkata Knight Riders here on Saturday, thanks to a well-played 50 by Shikhar Dhawan and a cameo by Kane Williamson (36 runs off 17 balls).
The hosts got off to a flying start, but lost Shreevats Goswami (35) in the ninth over.
Despite another cameo by Manish Pandey (25 runs), the second half of the innings belonged to KKR, who got crucial wickets at regular intervals.
More damage was done in the final over, as Prasidh Krishna dismissed Manish, Shakib Al Hasan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (run-out) to finish his spell with four wickets.
SRH 161-5 from 18.1 overs
WICKET! Carlos Brathwaite has been dismissed by his countryman Andre Russell for three runs as Dinesh Karthik completes a fantastic catch behind the wickets.
SRH 147-4 from 16.2 overs
WICKET! Yusuf Pathan departs for just two runs as he is dismissed by Sunil Narine.
SRH 141-3 after 15.1 overs
WICKET! Shikhar Dhawan (50 runs) is struck lbw by Prasidh Krishna as KKR get the crucial breakthrough.
SRH 133-2 from 14 overs
FIFTY! It's half-century number 32 in the IPL for Shikhar Dhawan as he plays another crucial innings at a much-needed time. Can he stay till the end of innings?
SRH 127-2 after 12.5 overs
WICKET! Kane Williamson was set for another big innings, but has been dismissed for 36 by Javon Searles as Andre Russell completes the catch.
SRH 79-1 after 8.4 overs
WICKET! Kuldeep Yadav strikes as he removes Shreevats Goswami for 35, courtesy a catch by Andre Russell at long-on. KKR finally get the breakthrough.
SRH 51-0 after 5 overs
WHAT A START! Shikhar Dhawan (20 runs) and Shreevats Goswami (24) have got the hosts to a flying start, with the 50-run partnership already coming in the first five overs. Where will they head to from here?
Toss update
Sunrisers Hyderabad have won the toss and have elected to bat first.
The hosts have got back Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Carlos Brathwaite in place, replacing Basil Thampi and Alex Hales respectively.
Meanwhile, KKR have got in Piyush Chawla for Shivam Mavi.
Here's the lineup for both the teams:
SRH XI: S Dhawan, K Williamson, M Pandey, C Brathwaite, Y Pathan, S Al Hasan, S Goswami, R Khan, S Kaul, Sandeep Sharma, B Kumar
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 19, 2018
Preview
All eyes will be on Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday night, as they take on an already-qualified Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 54th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) here with an eye on the playoffs.
KKR’s playoff chances were given a big boost after their six-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals on Tuesday.
Even in terms of numbers, Dinesh Karthik’s men hold the advantage, having won eight out of 13 games against Kane Williamson and co.
The key player for KKR will be Sunil Narine, who has been in fine form with both bat and ball.
Meanwhile, SRH are coming fresh from a disheartening loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) who as a result boosted their chances of qualifying.
Williamson himself has been in excellent form this season, currently being the second-highest run-scorer this season (625), behind KL Rahul (652).
The key for success for SRH will be to get early wickets and restrict the opponents to as low as possible.
While Rashid Khan has struck at the much-needed time with his wickets and stunning catches, another rising star has been Siddarth Kaul, who has been among the wickets most of the times.
While SRH would take this match as a dress rehearsal for the playoffs, KKR would hope to seal a playoff berth with a win.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Kane Williamson(captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Alex Hales, Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Shakib Al Hasan, Shreevats Goswami, Rashid Khan, Basil Thampi, Siddarth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yusuf Pathan, Wriddhiman Saha, Mohammad Nabi, Carlos Brathwaite, T Natarajan, K Khaleel Ahmed, Sachin Baby, Chris Jordan, Tanmay Agarwal, Bipul Sharma, Mehdi Hasan, Ricky Bhui.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Dinesh Karthik(captain), Sunil Narine, Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa, Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Shubman Gill, Shivam Mavi, Javon Searles, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Rinku Singh, Mitchell Johnson, Tom Curran, Piyush Chawla, Vinay Kumar, Ishank Jaggi, Apoorv Wankhade, Cameron Delport.
When is the match?
The match is scheduled to start at 8 P.M. IST on Saturday, May 19th.
Where is the match?
The match will take place at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad.
Live telecast and timings:
With Star India now acquiring the media rights from Sony Pictures Network India for the upcoming season, the matches will be telecast on various Star Sports channels.
Live streaming:
The matches can be viewed live on Hotstar.com or on the Hotstar app.
