61st match, KKR vs SRH: Kolkata Knight Riders won by 54 runs
The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) won their sixth TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 match on Saturday at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune, defeating the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 54 runs. After scoring a searing 49*(28) and a three-wicket haul, Andre Russell put on an all-round display in KKR's dominant 54-run triumph. With SRH needing 178 runs to win, Kane Williamson and Abhishek Sharma got off to a good start before Andre Russell rocked the SRH skipper's stumps during the powerplay. After six overs, SRH were 31/1.
Sharma made the most of his start by hitting three straight sixes against Narine. Tim Southee dismissed Tripathi for 9 with a superb catch off his own bowling. SRH were 66-2 at the midway stage as Aiden Markram joined Abhishek Sharma at the crease. Abhishek Sharma, who was caught on 43, was dismissed by Varun Chakaravarthy. After Narine took a catch off his own bowling, Nicholas Pooran was out in the next over. Before dragging Umesh Yadav's delivery on to the stumps in the 15th over, Markram smashed three sixes and looked dangerous. In the 18th over, Russell dismissed Washington Sundar and Marco Jansen. Southee took his second wicket in the next over, dismissing Shashank Singh, and SRH fell 54 runs short of the target.
Earlier, KKR made two changes to their eleven after opting to bat first. Umesh Yadav and Sam Billings were picked. Ajinkya Rahane hit his first century, but KKR lost Venkatesh Iyer early as the opener sliced on to the stumps against Marco Jansen. After both Rana and Rahane hit sixes, KKR were 55/1 at the end of the powerplay. After Shashank Singh took great catches to eliminate Nitish Rana and Ajinkya Rahane, Umran Malik took two wickets in an over.
Shreyas Iyer, the captain, hit two fours but holed out to deep mid-wicket, giving Malik his third wicket of the day. KKR were 5 down when Rinku Singh was caught LBW by Natarajan with a superb yorker. Andre Russell made his presence known with a four and a six, while Billings countered with a pair of fours against Malik. With two overs to go, KKR had reached 150 runs for the sixth wicket off 39 deliveries.
Russell smashed three sixes in the final over to help KKR reach 177/6 in the first innings. Billings was out in the penultimate over against Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 177/6 (Andre Russell 49*, Sam Billings 34; Umran Malik 3-33) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 123/8 (Abhishek Sharma 43, Aiden Markram 32; Andre Russell 3-22) by 54 runs.
