Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) opened their account in the points tally as Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) slumped to their second-straight loss in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Saturday, 26 September.
Opting to bat first, David Warner-led SRH scraped their way to 142/4 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, with Manish Pandey scoring a half-century.
A composed 62-ball 70* by young opener Shubman Gill, along with some help from Englishman Eoin Morgan (42* off 29 balls), then helped KKR reach their target in 18 overs, with 7 wickets to spare.
SRH, who lost their campaign opener to Royal Challengers Bangalore, are now the only team to have not won a game this season.
Pandey Scores Half-Century, Pat Cummins Bounces Back
SRH opener Jonny Bairstow (5), successfully reviewed a caught behind decision that went against him off Pat Cummins in the fourth over, only to be bowled the very next ball of the over.
His fellow opener Warner then combined with Manish Pandey to add 35 runs before falling to Varun Chakravarthy for a 30-ball 36.
Pandey top-scored for SRH with 51 off 38 balls. He added 62 runs for the third wicket with Wriddhiman Saha (30 off 31 balls), who was included in the squad in place of the injured Vijay Shankar.
KKR's record buy Pat Cummins – who was smashed for 49 runs in four overs in the last match – delivered a masterful performance on Saturday, returning with figures of 1/19. During the Powerplay overs, he gave away four runs in two overs and also picked up the wicket of Bairstow. Apart from Chakravarthy, Andre Russell was the third wicket-taker for KKR, having accounted for the wicket of Pandey.
Gill & Morgan Lead KKR to Victory
KKR lost opener Sunil Narine for a duck in the second over after which Nitish Rana smashed a quickfire 26 off 13 balls. Rana hit six fours in his short innings which provided a cushion for Morgan and Gill as they looked to regain control of the chase.
KKR were momentarily put on the backfoot after Rana and captain Dinesh Karthik fell in a relatively short period. While Rana was caught behind off T Natarajan in the fifth over, Karthik fell for a duck to Rashid Khan in the seventh.
Gill and Morgan, however, settled down and regained control of the match. The duo stitched an unbeaten 92-run stand with Gill hitting five fours and two sixes while Morgan smashed three fours and two sixes.
KKR, who lost their campaign opener to Mumbai Indians, have now moved to five place in the standings.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)