Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Kolkata Knight Riders by seven wickets in Match 25 of the Indian Premier League 2022 at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. Fifties from Rahul Tripathi and Nitish Rana helped Hyderabad chase down 175 with 13 balls remaining.
Tripathi slammed 71 off just 37 balls, while Markram remained unbeaten on 68. Earlier in the night, Kolkata were reduced to 31/3 inside the Powerplay. Nitish Rana's 54 then brought them back on track before a whirlwind innings from Andre Russell guided them to a challenging total.
Kolkata Knight Riders 175/8 in 20 overs
After a string of failures, Kolkata decided to replace Ajinkya Rahane with Aaron Finch, but that did not change their fortune. Finch punished an overpitched delivery from Bhuvneshwar Kumar before edging behind the stumps off Marco Jansen.
There was enough bounce and movement for the Sunrisers pacers in the opening overs. Bhuvneshwar induced an outside edge off Venkatesh Iyer in the third over, only to see the ball fly through the vacant second slip. Venkatesh, unable counter an inward movement, then got bowled in the fourth over.
Sunil Narine started off with a six on his first ball before getting out on the next. Shreyas Iyer and Rana then scored at around eight an over to take Kolkata to 70 from 31/3. A searing yorker from Umran Malik bowled Shreyas, but Rana notched his first fifty after 19 innings. His 36-ball 54 comprised of six fours and two sixes.
When Rana fell, Kolkata were 142/6 in the 18th over. Russell then smashed four sixes and as many fours in his unbeaten 49 to propel them to 175.
Sunrisers Hyderabad 176/3 in 17.5 overs
On the last two occasions of Sunrisers Hyderabad's successful chases, the opening pair had added over 50 runs. They needed them to click again to chase down 176 against the much-vaunted bowling attack of Kolkata. That did not happen, as Pat Cummins got Abhishek Sharma in the second over. Kane Williamson, too, chopped onto his stumps off Russell.
However, losing both openers didn't deter Tripathi from playing his natural game. Markram, too, excelled in his support act, helping Tripathi add 94 for the third wicket. They smashed ten sixes between them to knock Kolkata out of the game.
By the time Tripathi got out, Sunrisers Hyderabad were just inches away from a win. Markram remained unbeaten and propelled them across the target in just 17.5 overs.
Brief scores
Kolkata Knight Riders 175/8 in 20 overs (Nitish Rana 54; T Natarajan 3-37) lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad 176/3 in 17.5 overs (Rahul Tripathi 71; Andre Russell 3-20) by 7 wickets by 13 balls to spare. Player of the Match: Rahul Tripathi