Welcome to the highlights of IPL 2021, Match 49 between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). This was Santadeep Dey bringing you all the action as it unfolded at the Dubai International Stadium.
HIGHLIGHTS
WHAT THEY SAID
Shubman Gill, Player of the Match: It was important to assess the wicket. It wasn't easy to hit the spinners on this wicket. I was targeting the shorter side.
Eoin Morgan, KKR captain: The wicket played slower than we thought. It swings early in the Powerplay in these conditions, but it was sluggish. We needed to bowl and field well and we did. The depth of the squad to be able to call Shakib is a huge luxury. We are focused on playing good cricket. We've played really good cricket.
Kane Williamson, SRH skipper: I think if we got closer to the 150 mark, it might have been par. We did have our chances to squeeze the scoring but it was always going to be tough with such a low score. We haven’t been able to identify the right score all season.
RESULT: KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS BEATS SUNRISERS HYDERABAD BY SIX WICKETS
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS INNINGS
KKR 119/4 in 19.4 overs: Alright, so Kaul has a tough job at hand. The first ball's a dot. 3 off 5 is where the equation stands now. Single taken. 2 off 4. Another single. Scores level with three balls to go. Cracked away for four and Kolkata is over the line!
KKR 113/4 in 19 overs: A release of pressure here as Karthik finds the gap at deep backward point. Kolkata needs three off the last six balls.
KKR 106/4 in 18 overs: Rana's broken a camera at the deep mid-wicket boundary! And he's got to go, only minutes after. Another short one from Holder and Rana has top-edged this into the skies only for Saha to settle comfortably underneath.
KKR 99/3 in 17 overs: A flick of the wrists from Rana but it will only be one run. Kaul gets a breakthrough! Gill's innings comes to an end as he finds Holder at long-on. Guessing he has already done the job, but going by how the tournament has gone on, you can never predict anything until the last ball is bowled. There is a change in batting order for KKR. Karthik walks in and gets going straightaway with a flamboyant straight drive for four.
KKR 92/2 in 16 overs: The runs are coming thick and fast now for the Kolkata batters. Rana brings up the fifty-run partnership with a brilliant shot straight down the ground for a boundary.
KKR 84/2 in 15 overs: 151.03kmph! Malik, you beauty... It is a fifty for Gill and he brings it up in style, off 44 balls, with a terrific shot towards deep mid-wicket for four. It is time for the strategic timeout, ladies and gentlemen!
KKR 78/2 in 14 overs: Rashid is making it difficult for the batters to step out and meet the pitch of the ball. Rana, though, gets down on one knee, undeterred, to sweep the Afghan spinner to the third man boundary. Gill, presently, a run away from his half-century, has already registered his highest score in IPL 2021.
KKR 72/2 in 13 overs: Gill has turned the tap on with back-to-back fours of Malik's first two deliveries. Speaking up for his man Rana here, is Gill. He is just three away from his fifty after the two boundaries.
KKR 63/2 in 12 overs: Shouts of "Catch it!" as Gill pulls one towards deep mid-wicket but he steers way clear of any fielder. Four runs. Gill steps out to target the vacant deep mid-wicket region again. Four more.
KKR 51/2 in 11 overs: Rana goes for a gutsy switch hit off Rashid's first delivery but fails miserably. Gill charges out and goes for the big hit but it drops just within the boundary. Once bounce and four.
KKR 44/2 in 10 overs: Gill and Rana pick a single each off Kaul's over. Kolkata needs 72 runs in the next 60 balls.
KKR 42/2 in 9 overs: Rana has a go at Malik's widish delivery but in vain. Oooh, Malik's breathing fire as Rana is struggling to get any bat on the deliveries. Where has SRH been hiding him all this while? Just the two wides in this over.
KKR 40/2 in 8 overs: Kaul into the attack. Wait a minute... Warner's watching the game from the stands! C'mon SRH fans, that should cheer you up a bit! Just two from the over. Umpire Gough signals it's time for the strategic break.
KKR 38/2 in 7 overs: Rashid to bowl his first. Will this be the over Hyderabad has been seeking? YEAAAH! Sharma takes a smart catch at short mid-wicket as Tripathi walks for 7. Rana comes to crease.
KKR 36/1 in 6 overs: Mouthwatering! Tripathi stamps his authority with a boundary off the first ball. Crisp shot from a man in form. Gill responds with a four of his own.
KKR 27/1 in 5 overs: Holder tactfully digs one short as Iyer meets it with a pull on the rise. It dips painfully short of Samad at backward square leg. And Iyer departs! Looks to go for the big heave down the ground but ends up miscuing it to Williamson near mid-off. Gill gets a boundary to cap the over.
KKR 21/0 in 4 overs: Gill to face debutant Umran Malik. Malik bowls it just outside the line of the off stump and Gill unleashes a glorious cut to see the ball race away to the ropes. The Kashmir pacer is giving it a real rip - the last delivery was bowled at 150kmph! In fact all of his deliveries were bowled at 140-plus.
KKR 11/0 in 3 overs: Bhuvneshwar bowls onto Iyer's pads as the left-hander flicks it away towards deep-midwicket for a couple of runs.
KKR 9/0 in 2 overs: Holder to share the new ball. Impeccable timing from Iyer sees the ball race away for four straight past the bowler. Gill gets a leading edge next but the ball just doesn't carry to Garg at short cover.
KKR 2/0 in 1 over: Gill is off the mark off Bhuvneshwar's first ball. Iyer as well. There was a bit of hesitation, initially, but Gill makes it in time.
TARGET: KKR NEEDS 116 RUNS TO WIN
SUNRISERS HYDERABAD INNINGS
SRH 115/8 in 20 overs: Southee to bowl the last six. Concedes at a run a ball off the first five. However, Kaul picks up a much-needed boundary off the last ball to finish on a high. However, as things stand, KKR will be the happier unit in Dubai with less than 6rpo to get when Iyer and Gill pad up and take guard.
SRH 106/8 in 19 overs: Rashid's unorthodox helicopter shot off Mavi fetches him a six. And off the very next ball, he walks. Another helicopteresque flick carries straight to Iyer in the deep. Kaul to replace the Afghan all-rounder at the crease.
SRH 99/7 in 18 overs: Southee is back on. And that'll be it as far as Samad's cameo is concerned as he holes out to Gill at long-on. Bhuvneshwar is off the mark with a single straightaway.
SRH 94/6 in 17 overs: Holder decides to go after Varun but falters. Muscles one straight and high; Iyer had all the time to settle underneath. Samad, however, connects - TWICE! The bottom hand comes into play with a baseball swing to boot on both the occasions.
SRH 80/5 in 16 overs: Time for some calypso! Narine to bowl to Holder. The big man on strike fails to pick Narine's first five deliveries but saunters down for a single off the last. The second break of the innings has been taken.
SRH 79/5 in 15 overs: WICKET! Garg's struggles in the middle come to an end as he picks out Tripathi at deep mid-wicket off Varun's bowling. Morgan decides to go upstairs after the umpire turns down an appeal for Holder's wicket. However, the ball tracker shows it would have gone on to miss the woodwork. Samad ends the over with a maximum.
SRH 70/4 in 14 overs: Morgan squeezes in a quick over from Narine, who continues to offer added width to Samad and Garg. The Hyderabad batters are not looking to go after the spinner.
SRH 67/4 in 13 overs: A graceful backfoot punch from Samad welcomes Shakib into the attack. However, Hyderabad only manages to register a single off that shot towards sweeper cover. SIX! About time... Garg charges down and goes the distance over long-on.
SRH 57/4 in 12 overs: Karthik shouting out instructions for Varun after each delivery as is customary. Meanwhile, Samad and Garg concentrate on keeping the scoreboard ticking with singles. They need to do much more than that to worry the Kings' men.
SRH 53/4 in 11 overs: Abhishek plays for the turn and ends up missing all of it. Karthik wastes no time to effect an electric stumping! And Shakib almost gets Samad to walk off the very first ball he faces. The arm-ball drifts into the Kashmir batter and crashes into his pads.
SRH 51/3 in 10 overs: Spin continues to bother Hyderabad. Five runs come off Narine's over.
SRH 46/3 in 9 overs: Shakib to continue. Garg picks up a single off the first with a push down long-on. Abhishek targets the same region and gets a run too. Dropped! Shakib juggles a few times before letting go of an opportunity to dismiss Garg. Will this prove to be the turning point for Hyderabad? Strategic timeout!
SRH 42/3 in 8 overs: Morgan decides to operate spin in tandem with Narine bowling to Garg. There is an appeal for LBW off the fourth delivery but the umpire isn't interested. Just three from the over.
SRH 39/3 in 7 overs: Spin has been introduced and Shakib will be doing the honours. Some deft running between the wickets sees Williamson and Garg pick up a couple. A direct hit at Williamson's end by Shakib! This could be close. OUT says the giant screen. Abhishek joins Garg.
SRH 35/2 in 6 overs: Williamson greets Mavi with a boundary. He tries to find the fence off the second delivery as well but Shakib saves some valuable runs, stopping it on a half-volley. Williamson means business and makes it evident with another four through the sweeper cover region. And another... punched through cover. And one more towards third man. Wow! 4 0 4 2 4 4 reads the over timeline.
SRH 17/2 in 5 overs: Williamson wrists a flatter delivery from Varun past mid-wicket for a single. And that is the only run Hyderabad manages to score in this over. KKR is keeping things tight.
SRH 16/2 in 4 overs: A hint of swing from Mavi. Swing and a miss from Roy who has danced down quite some distance again; potential stumping candidate? Tewatia's feat from last night comes to mind. The no ball signal goes off... Roy on strike for the Free Hit, but Mavi delivers an unplayable yorker. WICKET! What a night this young lad is having. Roy swipes but there wasn't enough behind this shot as Southee pouches a regulation catch at mid-on.
SRH 14/1 in 3 overs: Roy decides to go big - shimmies down the track but ends up getting a massive inside edge that swishes past the leg stump and races away for four. The very next delivery is a boundary again but this time the Englishman has timed it to perfection towards wide mid-on. Southee doesn't like this one bit.
SRH 6/1 in 2 overs: Mavi to bowl from the other end. Williamson sneaks a single with a nudge right past the bowler. Roy picks up a run as well guiding a short of a length delivery towards third man. The Sunrisers captain shakes his head in frustration as Mavi records an excellent over.
SRH 4/1 in 1 over: Roy anticipates swing but there isn't much on offer off the first ball. He ends up getting a leading edge that falls just short of Narine at mid-on. AND GONE OFF THE SECOND BALL... Saha has been trapped plumb in front. KKR is truly up and running! Oops... looks like this would have gone on to miss the stumps. Saha wanted to review but Roy wasn't as eager.
Roy and Saha to open for Hyderabad. Morgan hands the new ball to Southee. Let's play!
- Before the IPL caravan shifts to Dubai for the second contest of today's double-header, news coming in from Sharjah suggests Royal Challengers Bangalore has reached the Playoffs after a six-run win over Punjab Kings! ( As it happened )
PLAYING XI
Kolkata Knight Riders: Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan (c), Shakib Al Hasan, Dinesh Karthik (w), Sunil Narine, Shivam Mavi, Tim Southee, Varun Chakaravarthy
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Jason Roy, Wriddhiman Saha (w), Kane Williamson (c), Priyam Garg, Abhishek Sharma, Abdul Samad, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umran Malik, Siddarth Kaul
Umpires: Michael Gough, J R Madangopal, Navdeep Singh Sidhu, Khalid Hussen Saiyed; Referee: Manu Nayar
TOSS
Sunrisers Hyderabad has won the toss and opted to bat
- PITCH REPORT: "It's a brand new surface. There is a good covering of grass, which means that there will be enough pace on it. This is the slickest deck in the UAE. The track is a bit coarse and that will give the bowlers something to work with as well. Batters are going to love this pitch as it will come on a bit better than at the other venues." reckon Danny Morrison and Nick Knight .
MATCH PREVIEW
A sprightly Kolkata Knight Riders will face a battered Sunrisers Hyderabad in Dubai on Sunday. KKR now needs to win both its remaining matches to stand a chance of reaching the playoffs. Its aggressive makeover has revived fortunes in the second leg. Venkatesh Iyer's inclusion has provided the impetus in the powerplay.
Dinesh Karthik's evolution as a middle-order finisher has helped. Rahul Tripathi's batting through the middle overs this season, where he strikes at 150, has been a plus. However, captain Eoin Morgan is yet to get into double-figures in the UAE leg.
READ: Rahul, Shahrukh pull off final-over win for Punjab against Kolkata
Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy have looked as good as ever. But Andre Russell and Lockie Ferguson might miss out again. Their injuries have affected the team balance. Against Punjab Kings, Iyer was forced to play the role of a fifth bowler, which didn't pay off. He was taken for 30 in just 2.3 overs. Meanwhile, Sunrisers were knocked out of playoff contention after losing to CSK. They lack a genuine T20 finisher with a strike rate and six-hitting frequency that would allow the top order to bat freely.
Their middle order is youthful and promising but has buckled under pressure. This has forced captain Kane Williamson into the role of the aggressor when he is really at his best playing to his tempo. Opening with Jason Roy is a welcome move.
Jason Holder's all-round excellence has offered a silver lining. Rashid Khan has also been top notch so far this season, picking up 14 wickets at an economy of 6.20. But he has had little support. Next year is also the mega IPL auction. So from both the players' and the franchise's point of view, it's important they put their best foot forward.
- Ayan Acharya
PREDICTED XI
Kolkata Knight Riders : Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (c), Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Shakib Al Hasan, Sunil Narine, Shivam Mavi, Tim Southee, Varun Chakaravarthy
Sunrisers Hyderabad : Jason Roy, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Kane Williamson (c), Priyam Garg, Abhishek Sharma, Abdul Samad, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma
KKR vs SRH DREAM 11 FANTASY TEAM
Wicketkeeper: Wriddhiman Saha
Batters: Kane Williamson, Jason Roy, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi
All-rounders: Sunil Narine, Jason Holder - vice captain , Venkatesh Iyer - captain
Bowlers: Siddarth Kaul, Rashid Khan, Varun Chakaravarthy
KKR 5/7 | SRH 6/7 | Credits left: 0.0
HEAD-TO-HEAD STATS
Between 2013-2021, KKR maintains a win-loss ratio of 13:7 over SRH.
STARS FROM LAST SEASON (IPL 2020):
STARS FROM THE FIXTURE
STARS FROM LAST SEASON
SQUADS
Kolkata Knight Riders : Venkatesh Iyer, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan (c), Dinesh Karthik (w), Tim Seifert, Sunil Narine, Shivam Mavi, Tim Southee, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Rinku Singh, Lockie Ferguson, Prasidh Krishna, Andre Russell, Sandeep Warrier, Sheldon Jackson, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Pawan Negi, Karun Nair, Ben Cutting, Shakib Al Hasan, Harbhajan Singh
Sunrisers Hyderabad : Jason Roy, Wriddhiman Saha (w), Kane Williamson (c), Priyam Garg, Abhishek Sharma, Abdul Samad, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma, Shreevats Goswami, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Mohammad Nabi, Shahbaz Nadeem, Virat Singh, Basil Thampi, Jagadeesha Suchith, Khaleel Ahmed, David Warner, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Umran Malik
AT WHAT TIME DOES TODAY'S IPL 2021 MATCH - KKR vs SRH START?
The IPL 2021 match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad begins at 7:30 PM IST.
WHERE TO WATCH TODAY'S IPL MATCH - KKR vs SRH LIVE?
IPL 2021 will be aired live on
Star Sports channels -
Star Sports 1 ,
Star Sports 1 HD ,
Star Sports 3 and
Star Sports 3 HD . It will also be streamed live on
Disney+Hotstar . You can also follow the live commentary and latest updates from IPL 2021 on
Sportstar .
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