At the renowned Eden Gardens, Kolkata Knight Riders pulled off a heist against Sunrisers Hyderabad. The Shreyas Iyer-led team was under extreme pressure to protect seven runs from five deliveries, but Harshit Rana maintained composure and completed the task brilliantly. In the penultimate delivery of the game, he removed the threatening Heinrich Klaasen from the field, and in the very last ball, he gave Pat Cummins a dot to enable KKR win by four runs.
Ramandeep Singh (35 runs off 17 deliveries) and Rinku Singh (23 runs off 15 deliveries) both played outstanding cricket to keep the two-time champions in the hunt despite KKR’s notable struggles to get going while batting first. Afterwards, Andre Russell showed up and, with his fierce batting, altered the course of the game. During the first innings, KKR scored 208 runs, with the West Indies international hitting 64 off 25 deliveries.
SRH had their chances during the chase, but the bowlers from KKR kept them composed for the most part. Even though Harshit Rana and Sunil Narine were outstanding, Klaasen’s 63 runs off of 29 deliveries kept them in the hunt. Notably, Shahbaz Ahmed also had an outstanding cameo, scoring 16 runs off of just five deliveries, but, despite their best efforts, SRH was unable to complete the task.
1. Rajasthan Royals of Kolkata Knight Riders
Russell, Rinku, and Ramandeep caused havoc at Eden Gardens versus SRH. Phil Salt and Ramandeep, the openers, set the tone, which Russell and Rinku really capitalized on later. Thanks to their outstanding batting, KKR managed to finish strong despite never attempting to reach the 200-run milestone. They scored 208 runs in the end, which was plenty to win.
2. Antique Narine
In his four overs, Sunil Narine gave up just 19 runs and did not allow a single boundary to be hit. He displayed characteristics of a classic Sunil Narine, and KKR will be cruising up the points table if the spinner keeps up his current form.
3. Klaasen is class
Heinrich Klaasen can cause a great deal of harm in white-ball cricket, as most people are aware. He made a strong debut in the 2024 edition after teasing similar things in the IPL 2023. The South African international could have won it for SRH had he received sufficient support from the top order, as he finished up with 63 runs.
Losing skipper Pat Cummins said:
Close game in the end, wonderful game of cricket. Unfortunately didn’t go our way. I thought for the most part, really happy with how we bowled. Obviously Dre Russ at the end there does what Dre Russ does, he’s pretty hard to contain. Overall, I thought we did a pretty good job. You do your planning, you try to execute your best but a pretty tough guy to bowl to, played some good shots, couple of balls maybe we could have bowled a little bit differently but toughest job in cricket is bowling at someone like that in the end.
It’s one of those, goes one way or the other, amazing job by Klaas (Klaasen) and Shahbaz to get us back into the game and get us into that position. Who would have thought we’d get that close. Unfortunately a little bit too much. In a game where we didn’t really pull it all together, we still almost competed against a very good side at their home venue, lots to be encouraged by, lot of good performers, a couple of points to work on also. Happy with how the toss went.
Winning skipper Shreyas Iyer said:
Right from the 17th over, had butterflies in my stomach. Felt anything could happen in the last over. They needed 13 runs and we didn’t have the most experienced bowler. But I had the belief in him, and I told him to back himself and it doesn’t matter what happens. He was a bit nervous coming in, and I just looked him in the eye and told him ‘this is your moment, buddy.’ Told him to back himself and doesn’t matter what happens in the game. They have such experience.
Great to see Andre perform with bat and ball, and even Sunny was splendid with the ball. Fantastic to have them around. Always gives you motivation when you start with a win. This game also gives us a lot of learnings, there is a lot we will take from this ground. I think fielding is an area we need to improve on. It was so loud out there, it was difficult to signal to the other players from the deep
POTM Andre Russell said:
Not really, sometimes stuff pop on my Insta and I realise how well I am striking the ball. Shows that you are doing well. I have tried to react with whatever comes my way. Over the last 2 years, bowlers have their plans against me. I have been digging out the runs, and I know everyone has a plan for me. (On his journey with KKR) I was on the bench early on, and just tried to make myself useful.
This franchise means a lot to me, what I did tonight was just a way to prove what this jersey means to me. (On Harshit Rana) Shows a lot about his character. He told me he wanted the last over, he claimed it and he came back strong after the first ball went for six.
India
