Kolkata Knight Riders’ winning streak has finally come to an end as Sunrisers Hyderabad desperately attacked Dinesh Karthik’s men in order to end their own dismal run and qualify for the final. Despite having the home advantage in a playoff match, KKR’s poor display in the death overs and a mid-innings tragedy during their batting knocked them out of the title race.

Starting off with a 56-run partnership, SRH were looking for Kane Williamson to strengthen their dominance after Kuldeep Yadav removed Shikhar Dhawan for 34 runs. But the batsman couldn’t manage to post more than three runs and got dismissed by the same bowler in the very same over.

Following Williamsojn’s departure, SRH started losing wickets at regular intervals as Wriddhiman Saha also returned to the pavilion after scoring 34 runs. The Hyderbad-based franchise still kept the score ticking with Shakib Al Hasan and Deepak Hooda contributing some runs in the middle.

Shakib’s innings of 28 runs alongside Hooda’s 19 was still not enough to help SRH hit the par until Rashid Khan showcased a stunning cameo of 34 runs. The Afghan’s unbeaten 10-ball innings lifted Hyderabad past trouble as they registered a total of 174/7.

Sunil Narine, Shivam Mavi, and Piyush Chawla scalped one wicket each for KKR. But Prasidh Krishna, who has had a good campaign until this game, was smashed for 56 runs in four overs while failing to bag any wickets.

KKR were off to a flying start while chasing as Sunil Narine added some quick runs before leaving the crease. His exit at the hands of Siddarth Kaul, after a 13-ball innings of 26 runs, was followed by another crucial stand between Chis Lynn and Nitish Rana.

KKR were then put in trouble as Rashid and Shakib teamed up to strangle their batting line up after Rana fell victim to a run out on 22. Rashid struck thrice to remove Robin Uthappa, Lynn, and Andre Russell, while Shakib sent the KKR skipper back to the hut. Apart from Lynn’s 48-run knock, none of the rest were able to make their mark.

Following the collapse, Shubhman Gill tried to stand firm and take KKR past the finishing line, but his efforts only reduced KKR’s losing margin as they fell short 13 runs short in the end. Gill got dismissed by Carlos Brathwaite after scoring 30 runs. Piyush Chawla also tried to help the youngster but was able to add only 12 runs to the total, before getting out by Kaul.

KKR scored 161 for 9 wickets and saw their exciting season come to an end.

SRH will be facing Chennai Super Kings – the team that has been invincible against the league-round toppers so far – in the grand finale which will bring down the curtain on the lucrative event on May 27.

 

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