Kolkata Knight Riders exhibited its exemplary team work when it mattered the most to beat a formidable Sunrisers Hyderabad by 22 runs and move into the Indian Premier League (IPL) playoffs at the Eden Gardens here on Sunday night.
> Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
The host banked on a fabulous 49-ball, 87-run partnership between Yusuf Pathan (52 not out) and Manish Pandey (48) to register a fighting 171 for six and then depended on its pack of spinners, led by Sunil Narine who captured three wickets, to stop Sunrisers at 149 for eight. Knight Riders' eighth win helped the two-time champion overcome its injury worries and complete its league engagements on a high in front of its loyal fans. > Kuldeep Yadav: We have psychological advantage over SRH
There were two significant comebacks from both sides after Sunrisers inserted Knight Riders. Propelled by opener Robin Uthappa's early onslaught, a 17-ball 25, studded with three delectable boundaries in the opening over by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Knight Riders got off to a superb start.
The young chinaman >@imkuldeep18 left >@SunRisers spellbound tonight! >#KKRvSRH>#AmiKKR>pic.twitter.com/DySlOwcXv3
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) >May 22, 2016
Knight Riders' joy was short-lived as it lost Uthappa, Colin Munro and Gautam Gambhir in the fourth, sixth and eighth overs. All of them got out playing big shots. The indomitable Pathan-Pandey pair took the fight to the opponent's camp with some lusty blows. Showing a lot of common sense, they worked the ball around when the bowlers, including Moises Henriques, Sran and Bhuvneshwar, bowled tidy lines.
Pathan and Pandey progressed at an even pace and chose Karn Sharma for special treatment with each of them clubbing the legspinner for consecutive sixes. Knight Riders lost momentum when Pandey was brilliantly caught by Williamson at point in Bhuvneshwar's return spell.
Effective death bowling
Even as Pathan, who scored his third half-century, hung on till the end, Sunrisers staged a fightback primarily due to its pacers' exceptional showing on a slow pitch. Bhuvneshwar and Mustafizur executed their cutters well as Sunrisers conceded only 30 runs in the last five overs.
Knight Riders' response was well-planned. Aiming to restrict the destructive Sunrisers skipper, it manned the strong areas of David Warner and invited him to play big shots. The plan succeeded as Warner fell to Sunil Narine immediately after pulling the West Indian for a terrific six.
Shikhar Dhawan shouldered the responsibility and scored a stroke-filled half-century (51 off 30b) but chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav, playing his first match after more than a month, got the breakthrough for Knight Riders by dismissing Dhawan.
The Knight Riders spinners pounced on the opportunity as the tacky track offered some turn. The wily Narine claimed Naman Ojha, the experienced Shakib removed Yuvraj Singh and the impressive Kuldeep scalped Williamson.
With the asking rate mounting sharply, it was never going to be an easy chase for Sunrisers and they pulled up short in the end.
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