David Warner, Jonny Bairstow Too Hot To Handle For KKR, SRH Return To Top Four

SunRisers Hyderabad beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 9 wickets with 5 overs to spare at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad in the first of two Indian Premier League (IPL) matches on Sunday. SRH return to the top four with this win, and they also have a game in hand over the other teams. As for KKR, this was their fifth consecutive defeat and their campaign is now in tatters. They are stuck on sixth spot on the IPL points table with 8 points, having played a match more than the other teams.

Chasing a target of 160, Warner struck 67 off 38 balls hitting three fours and five sixes while Englishman Bairstow punished the hapless KKR attack with seven boundaries and four maximums in his unbeaten knock of 80 off 43 balls.

The openers looked in command as the target was achieved in 15 overs largely due to their 131-run stand. The duo had guided SRH to victories against Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals in similar fashion.

KKR were sloppy in the field and ended up paying heavily for their mistakes. Bairstow was dropped twice, once on 5 by Cariappa off debutant Prithviraj's delivery in the second over and then again on 58 by Piyush Chawla off Sunil Narine.

Prithvi (1/29) got the only breakthrough for KKR, dismissing Warner, but it was a little too late as the hosts needed just 29 runs off 40 balls then. With Warner gone, Kane Williamson (8 off 9 balls) walked in but the captain had little to do with Bairstow hitting a four and two sixes to seal the victory.

Earlier, young left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed grabbed three wickets in an impressive spell. The 21-year-old speedster removed Sunil Narine (25 off 7 balls), who was looking dangerous in his first spell and then came back to dismiss Shubman Gill (3) and Chris Lynn (51) in his corresponding spells to keep KKR in check.

Senior pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar returned with the figures of 2/35 while leg-spinner Rashid Khan (1/23) and seamer Sandeep Sharma (1/37) took a wicket apiece with the Sunrisers' bowlers making life difficult for the KKR batsmen.

For KKR, Lynn was the top-scored with a dogged 47-ball 51. Rinku Singh was the other notable contributer with a 25-ball 30. Rinku and Lynn shared a 51-run stand for the fifth wicket to stabilise the innings. Big-hitter Andre Russel scored 15 off 9 balls. He hit two sixes off Kumar before the right-arm seamer dismissed the Jamaican in the penultimate over.

(With PTI inputs)

Topics mentioned in this article

Sunrisers Hyderabad Kolkata Knight Riders David Warner Jonny Bairstow IPL 2019 Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Match 38 Khaleel Ahmed Rashid Khan Cricket