Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) was one of the least fancied teams going into this year’s IPL, and after losing their first 2 games, that reputation felt justified. However, the team has rebounded spectacularly well with 3 wins in a row, including the comfortable win today against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
Chasing 176 for a win, SRH reached the target in 17.5 overs with 7 wickets to spare. Powered by Rahul Tripathi’s 37 balls 71 and Aiden Markram’s 36 balls 68, SRH made short work of a challenging target set by KKR.
Earlier in the day, having won the toss, Sunrisers Hyderabad put KKR in to bat. Despite losing their top order early, KKR rode on Nitish Rana’s half-century and Andre Russell’s explosive 49 off 25 balls to reach a very competitive 175 in their 20 overs. For Hyderabad, Natarajan was the standout bowler taking 3 for 37 off his 4 overs, ably supported by Umran Malik who took 2 for 27 from his allocated 4 overs.
In response, Hyderabad lost their openers Abhishek Sharma and Kane Williamson early, but then they had a 94 runs 3rd wicket partnership at over 10 runs an over between Rahul Tripathi and Aidan Markram. Tripathi was particularly aggressive as he punctuated his innings with 6 sixes and 4 fours before being dismissed by Russell.
However, Markram didn’t let the momentum slow down after Tripathi’s dismissal and guided Hyderabad to a comfortable win with 2.1 overs to spare. The win puts SRH level on points with KKR though Kolkata is still ahead on the basis of their superior net run rate.
Hyderabad next faces Punjab Kings on Sunday, while Kolkata’s next game is against Rajasthan Royals on Monday.