Bangalore out, as Sunrisers won against Kolkata Knight Riders
Hyderabad: Sunrisers Hyderabad got a tensed five-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders and in the process knocked Royal Challengers Bangalore out of the Pepsi Indian Premier League on Sunday.
Chasing 131 in their must-win match, Hyderabad overhauled the target with seven balls to spare, taking their points tally to 20 which placed them fourth in the table.
Hyderabad’s chase began in the right earnest with Parthiv Patel (47) and Shikhar Dhawan (42) batting fearlessly. They attacked intelligently and set up the win with their 89-run opening stand.
It was diminutive Patel, who started the fireworks and later Dhawan joined the party. They did not spare a single bowler as they cut, pulled and drove elegantly.
Dhawan had played his part with his 35-ball knock laced with three fours and two shots over the fence.
Earlier, leg-spinning combo of Amit Mishra and Karan Sharma, who extracted some sharp turn off the wicket, stifled the KKR innings in the middle overs as they gave away just 20 and 15 runs respectively and accounted for one batsman each.
Pacers Dale Steyn (2/24) and Anand Rajan (1/22) were terrific upfront as they straight-jacketed the Kolkata openers with good control over line and length.
The pressure created by Styen and Rajan benefited Thisara Perera as in his attempt to break free, Manvinder Bisla pulled one off Sri Lankan but managed a top edge, which landed in the hands of skipper Cameron White at short-cover.
Not only the pacemen but Hyderabad’s spinners too tested the rival batsmen. Both Mishra and Sharma bowled probing line and had Morgan and Kallis in a fix.
