Press Trust of India
Visakhapatnam, April 22: Skipper David Warner (91, 55b, 9×4, 4×6) led from the front with a blistering knock as Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) defeated defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 16 runs via D/L method in a rain-truncated match of the IPL here Wednesday.
Courtesy Warner’s SRH scored a decent 176 for four in 20 overs but due to an hour long rain delay, the revised target for KKR turned out to be 118 from 12 overs. The Shah Rukh Khan co-owned franchise could only manage 101 for four in 12 overs.
Credit should be given to the ‘two Kumars from Meerut’ – Praveen (1/18 from 2 overs) and Bhuvneshwar (1/24), who gave away just five and seven runs respectively in the 10th and 11th over as KKR were left to score 25 off the last over.
Bhuvneshwar again bowled a decent last over giving away eight runs as Warner and company logged home two more points by virtue of their second win from five games.
KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir (4) couldn’t repeat his performance of the previous game as he was dismissed while trying to whack a Praveen Kumar delivery over mid-wicket. Robin Uthappa (34, 21b, 2×4, 2×6) hit a few audacious shots before flicking one from Moises Henriques to Praveen, who was placed at short fine-leg. Andre Russell (19 from 10 balls) again showed his big hitting prowess with a couple of huge sixes but it was an effort that came too late.
Warner put on 130 runs in 14.2 overs with Shikhar Dhawn (54, 46b, 4×4, 1×6). But after the Australian’s dismissal, SRH could only manage 43 runs in the last five overs. Part of the blame should go to Dhawan, who didn’t look in good touch even though he scored a half century.
Brief scores: SRH 176 for 4 (David Warner 91, Morne Morkel 2/31) beat KKR 101 for 4 in 12 overs (Praveen Kumar 1/18) by 16 runs. Duckworth-Lewis method
