Captain Kane Williamson led from the front with a solid fifty as Sunrisers Hyderabad shrugged off initial wobble to beat Kolkata Knight Riders by five wickets in their IPL match in Kolkata on Sunday, 15 April.
Williamson struck exactly fifty off 44 deliveries, hitting four boundaries and a six to help Sunrisers chase down the small target of 139 after the visiting side were reduced to 55 for 3 in the ninth over at the Eden Gardens.
Chasing a modest 139 to win, New Zealand captain Williamson mixed caution with aggression (4x4, 16) as Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan gave him good support with a 21-ball 27.
Yusuf Pathan (17 not out) hit the winning runs with a six over square leg off Andre Russell as the visitors reached the target with six balls to spare.
This was SRH's first triumph at the Eden in five attempts and their third straight victory this season.
Local boy Wriddhiman Saha (24; 15b 5x4 0x6) gave SRH a flying start before Sunil Narine (2/17) got his back in his very first delivery with a fullish delivery down the leg side which took a feather edge off the India Test stumper's bat to Dinesh Karthik who took a sharp catch.
Narine also castled Shikhar Dhawan (7; 7b 1x4 0x6) with an overpitched ball which the India southpaw tried to defend and the ball sneaked under his bat.
At the end of Powerplay, SRH were 46/2 still needing 93 runs for victory.
Chinaman Kuldeep Yadav (1/23) accounted for former KKR batsman Manish Pandey, who was brilliant in the field taking two superb catches, with a fullish delivery that the 28-year old could not pick.
Then Williamson and Shakib stitched together a 59-run stand for the fourth wicket before the latter was caught in two minds whether to defend and hit, losing his leg stump in the process to Piyush Chawla (1/20).
But there was no stopping Williamson who brought up his fifty.
Williamson's stay was cut short by Mitchell Johnson whose fullish delivery on the leg stump was flicked on to square leg where Andre Russell took an easy catch.
Earlier, India pace spearhead Bhuvneshwar Kumar delivered crucial blows as SRH made the most of a hour-long rain break and some excellent catching by Manish Pandey to restrict KKR to a modest 138/8.
Kumar (3/26) -- back after recovering from a sore back -- was ably supported by pacer Billy Stanlake (2/21) and Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan (2/21).
Pandey took two outstanding catches to send Nitish Rana (18; 16b 2x4 1x6) and Andre Russell (9; 5b 0x4 1x6) -- back in the hut as SRH bowlers took control after a rain-induced halt when KKR were going steady at 52/1.
For the hosts, opener Chris Lynn (49; 34b 7x4 1x6) was the top-scorer as skipper Dinesh Karthik laboured to a 27-ball 29 hitting two fours and a six.
(With inputs from PTI and IANS)
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