IPL 2018: Kolkata Knight Riders Can Learn Knuckleball From Sunrisers Hyderabad Bowlers, Says Dinesh Karthik

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) produced a magnificent all-round performance as they outclassed Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by five wickets in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Eden Gardens on Saturday night. Put into bat first, Kolkata could only manage to post a modest 138/8 in 20 overs as the Hyderabad bowlers did not let them settle. While KKR captain Dinesh Karthik lauded his team's spirited bowling performance, he also urged his seamers to learn the knuckleball from SRH bowlers. "Their (SRH) bowlers have a good knuckleball going. They use it to good effect. That's something we can look at and learn from," Karthik said in a post-match conference.

India pace spearhead Bhuvneshwar Kumar scalped three wickets as Australian Billy Stanlake was outstanding too as he finished the match with figures of 2/21.

Siddharth Kaul was their most expensive pacer, conceding 37 runs in four overs but overall the three leaked 84 runs in a combined 12 overs compared to KKR's 79 in just seven overs.

The hosts three-pronged spin attack comprising mystery spinner Sunil Narine, chinaman Kuldeep Yadav and leggie Piyush Chawla gave away 60 runs from a combined 12 overs with Narine scalping two wickets and the other two grabbing one wicket apiece.

SRH were made to labour in their chase of 139 largely due to the spinners who were difficult to get away.

"I think the spinners bowled beautifully. After the CSK game, the way they have come back, all three bowled well for us. So, I am very happy with the way the spinners bowled," Karthik added.

On Shivam Mavi, who bowled just the one over, Karthik said, "I was looking at Mavi but at that stage, the spinners were bowling so well I could see spinners were a better wicket-taking option than the fast bowlers.

"It was coming on to the bat a lot better but for the spinners, it was holding up and the chance of a wicket (was more) so I was trying to utilise that. In these sort of small games, you need to see what is the best attacking option. You need to keep picking wickets and I thought spinners were a better option," Karthik further remarked.

KKR will now take on Gautam Gambhir's Delhi Daredevils at the Eden Gardens on Monday while the Sunrisers will Kings XI Punjab in Mohali on April 19.

(With IANS Inputs)