A failed floodlight pylon ensured that the Kolkata Knight Riders made light work of the Sunrisers Hyderabad’s target of 182 as the hosts squeezed home with two balls to spare and six wickets in hand.
David Warner and Jonny Bairstow got the Sunrisers innings off to a flyer, putting on 118 for the first wicket inside 13 overs before the Englishman fell for 39 off 35 balls (3×4, 1×6, S/R 111.42). Warner continued in brutal fashion before a brilliant diving catch by Robin Uthappa ended his innings 15 short of the century mark.
Warner’s 85 came off 53 balls with nine fours and three sixes (S/R 160.37). Vijay Shankar (40 off 24 balls, 2×4, 2×6, S/R 166.66) pushed his side through to an impressive 181-3 off their 20 overs. Andre Russell picked up two wickets but was the most expensive with the ball, his three overs going for 32 runs (econ 10.66).
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Nitish Rana (68 off 47 balls) and Robin Uthappa (35 off 27 balls) got the Knight Riders off to a flying start, adding 80 runs for the second wicket in under 10 overs.
The Knight Riders started to fall behind the asking rate before Player of the Match Andre Russell unleashed the innings of a lifetime, slamming an incredible 49 runs off just 19 balls, with four fours and four sixes, at a strike rate of 257.89 to snatch victory by six wickets with just two balls in hand.
The Sunrisers bowlers all took some punishment, but Rashid Khan emerged relatively unscathed, returning figures of 1-26 (econ 6.50).
Photo: Ron Gaunt /SPORTZPICS for BCCI
