KKR beats Sunrisers by 8 wickets to claim third IPL
Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) bowlers blew the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) away for a record low score of 113 after which Venkatesh Iyer’s unbeaten 52 off 26 balls helped them win their third Indian Premier League (IPL) title. SRH’s explosive style of batting backfired on the biggest occasion of them all. Mitchell Starc picked two of the three wickets that SRH lost in the powerplay. They went on to lose their fourth wicket in the 10th over while Andre Russell then got the big wicket of Aiden Markram in the 11th.
SRH’s collapse never stopped and they went past 100 because of a semblance of a resistance provided by captain Pat Cummins and Jaydev Unadkat. The pair put up 23 runs off 22 balls for the 10th wicket but there was little they could do to turn the tide for SRH.
In reply, KKR wasted no time in hacking off the lowly target. While Sunil Narine fell in the second over, his opening partner Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored 39 in 32 balls. Venkatesh Iyer then flattened any faint hopes that SRH may have got from Cummins sending back the dangerous Narine early. Iyer smashed three sixes and four fours as he stayed unbeaten on 52 off 26 balls.
