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We now come to the conclusion of our coverage of the 2024 Indian Premier League for the day. The Sunrisers Hyderabad will be back in action in the middle of next week as they take on the Mumbai Indians on home soil. The Kolkata Knight Riders camp have almost a week's break before their next fixture - Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Chinnaswamy. We'll be back with another double-header tomorrow - Rajasthan Royals square off against the Lucknow Super Giants at the Sawai Man Singh stadium in the afternoon, and a potentially tense clash between the Gujarat Titans and the Mumbai Indians at Ahmedabad will follow - Hardik Pandya being a central talking point going into it having switched loyalties between the two teams! Join us right here on Sportskeeda early for our extensive coverage of all the exciting action, and as always, a lot more! This is Rajarshi Das, signing off on behalf of Pradeep Somasekhar. Good night - see you tomorrow!
It was nervy, but close wins of this nature bolster the morale of any team at the start of a season! There's a lot to address for the Kolkata Knight Riders - particularly their catching, but all that will remain for another day, the KKR camp, much like all the spectators who make their way out the ground having also had a glimpse of Shahrukh Khan - will be immensely upbeat! The Sunrisers Hyderabad were in the game at times, but just weren't able to keep their hold on - one example being the death overs of the first innings after a stellar effort to get rid of KKR's top and most of middle-order. Klaasen almost pulled off a heist for the Orange Army, but Tripathi and Markram's struggles meant that SRH left it for too late eventually.
Andre Russell - who else? Has been adjudged the Player Of The Match for a truly all-round performance! Here's what he has to say: Sometimes stuff pops up on my Instagram, reminding me of how well I've struck the ball. Cool that you know you're doing well. I'm happy with the way I'm batting, another win tonight. I just try to react to whatever comes in my way, based on the last two years bowlers have been exceptional bowling to me, they plan very carefully bowling to me. I've been digging runs out in the back end, still figuring out to score. I have to be ready against the plans everyone come at me with. (On his journey with the Kolkata Knight Riders) Being on the bench, walking around with towels, and having got the opportunity, I made use of it, and since, I have been a permanent fixture in the XI, happy to contribute. This franchise is a lot to me, they've shown a lot of faith and confidence over the years. What I did tonight is to say keep supporting. Happy to contribute every time I put this jersey on. His body language was on point in that last over, he wanted the ball, and that is the body language we all need as professionals. He claimed it, and delivered for us. The first ball going for six, still have a little doubt there, but he came back and got the job done.
Shreyas Iyer, Kolkata Knight Riders captain: Right from the 17th over, I had butterflies in my stomach. To be honest, I thought anything could happen in the last over - they needed 13 runs, and we probably didn't have the best - the most experienced bowler bowling at the time. I had the belief in him - this was the time he could become a hero, that's what I told him. He was a bit nervous when he came on to bowl, I looked at him in the eyes and said - this is your moment, buddy. Make the best use of it, if we lose it's fine, but back yourself, and execute your plans. There was a bit of cluster in between, but I tried to calm him down. Rest is history. They've (Russell and Narine) have got such experience behind their backs. Andre Russell, I'm elated to see how he performed today with bat and ball, also running around on the field. Sunny (Narine) has been tremendous with the ball over the years, executing the way he does. It was fantastic to see them the way they performed, a luxury having them in the team. A win to start the season gives you a lot of motivation, also a lot of learning. So many points and areas we need to improve on - as individuals and team. Fielding is one of them - was so loud there, it was deafening. Kind of difficult for me to signal to them amidst all the noise.
Ramandeep Singh: I was really enjoying my time in the middle, was playing with intent and that was the plan and want to play like this, thanks to Gauti bhai and Abhishek bhai. I was striking well in domestic cricket, the way these guys have backed, I want to keep playing like this. The plan from the outset, Klaasen was hitting well with the pace, message from dressing room was to take the pace off and it worked well for us. Great atmosphere in the ground, hope we play like this.
Pat Cummins (Sunrisers Hyderabad captain): Close game in the end, wonderful game of cricket, unfortunately didn't go our way. I thought for most part, we bowled well, but Dre Russ is hard to contain, but we did a pretty job I thought. You do your plan, you try and execute to your best, pretty tough guy to bowl to but toughest job in cricket to bowl someone like that. Goes one way or the other way, Klaasen and Shahbaz got us into the position, but was a bit too much in the end. First of all, in the game where we didn't pull all things together, lots to be encouraged by, couple of points to work on also. Happy with how the toss went.
Match summary:
Kolkata Knight Riders win by 4 runs
Andre Russell 64*(25) | Harshit Rana 3/33 (4) Heinrich Klaasen 63(29) | Thangarasu Natarajan 3/32 (4)
The metro railway station at Esplanade, operating well past midnight on days of KKR matches at the Eden Gardens, will be a bustling, yet happy place to be at! The Kolkata Knight Riders had the game by the scruff of the neck, but with Heinrich Klaasen at the crease, one could never count the Sunrisers Hyderabad out of the contest early. They shouldn't have - Klaasen played an integral role in bringing an equation of 76 off 24 down to 13 off 6, and having slammed one out the ground off the first ball of the last over, seemed determined - and destined - to take SRH past the finishing line.
Harshit Rana, though, had other ideas. With his straight yorker ploy not going as per plan, he decided to take the pace off and keep it away from the batters' arc. That brought about a couple of wickets for him - including the decisive one of Heinrich Klaasen with 5 to get off the last two deliveries. Klaasen's wicket, though, needs to be equally credited to Suyash Sharma - 9 times out of 10 does a catch go down at short third when the fielder has to run back to pouch it. That was far from the case this time - Suyash sprung forward, and pouched the ball while air-borne!
Mayank Agarwal and Abhishek Sharma provided the Sunrisers Hyderabad with a solid start. The duo piled up 56 in the powerplay - both batters going for their shots - before Mayank Agarwal holed out to deep square off Harshit Rana. There was some heat post that as Harshit gave a rather extravagant send-off, and Agarwal didn't take too kindly to it. Russell proved to be too good for Abhishek Sharma soon after, accounting for him with a short ball in his very first over of the night.
The KKR spinners proceeded to apply the squeeze on the SRH duo of Rahul Tripathi and Aiden Markram. While both the batters are prolific hitters of spin, they just weren't able to force the issue for SRH, Barring the 14-run over from Suyash Sharma in between, there wasn't much happening for the Orange Army over the course of the middle-overs Markram and Tripathi both succumbed to the pressure eventually, holing out in succession.
The equation seemed to go out of hand as Klaasen and Abdul Samad tried forcing the score, and while Samad middled a couple with success off Russell, he picked out deep mid wicket off a high full toss right after and departed. With overs running out, Klaasen saw Varun Chakravarthy with the ball, and was absolutely severe on him. 21 came off it, and SRH were still in the game. Klaasen and Shahbaz then proceeded to take it deep - they took it really deep eventually, but it is the Kolkata Knight Riders who prevail in the end. Presentations coming up in a bit...
Eden erupts! Harshit Rana has bailed the Kolkata Knight Riders out - KKR were on the front foot going into the last four - ran into a Klaasen blitzkrieg, but Rana held his nerve and pulled off a stunning win for the home side!
20
overs
204/7score
6
1
W
1
W
0
runs
Pat Cummins*
0(1)
Marco Jansen
1(1)
Harshit Rana
3/33
19.6 Harshit Rana to Pat Cummins, HARSHIT RANA IS THE HERO FOR KKR! What a thriller of a contest we've just witnessed, KKR stormed back into the contest in this final over, they were dead and buried, but Harshit Rana holds on to his nerve. Takes the pace off again, back of a length outside the off-stump. Cummins desperately needed to connect, goes for a big heave and misses, it's a dot to finish.
5 off the last ball....
Pat Cummins, RHB, comes to the crease
Brilliant! A potentially match-winning catch from Suyash Sharma - one for contention for catch of the tourney, you'd feel, given the circumstances! Harshit Rana is very close to accomplishing a tremendous feat - defend 13 against a rampant Heinrich Klaasen!
19.5 Harshit Rana to Heinrich Klaasen, OUT! EDGED AND TAKEN! Is that the game for KKR? What a catch that from Suyash, running back and pouches it safely as he tumbles down. Goes with the slower one again, Klaasen too early into the swing, takes the outside edge and Suyash might've taken the catch of the match here!
Heinrich Klaasen c Suyash Sharma b Harshit Rana 63 (29b, 0x4, 8x6)
5 off 2. Klaasen has the strike back.
19.4 Harshit Rana to Marco Jansen, another slower one, back of a length on the off-stump. Jansen swipes it to deep mid-wicket for just a single. But, Klaasen is back on strike!
Marco Jansen, RHB, comes to the crease
Dot ball, wicket, and a new batter in! Some respite for Rana and KKR - the see-saw keeps swaying about!
19.3 Harshit Rana to Shahbaz Ahmed, OUT! HOLES OUT AT LONG-ON! Much needed wicket, but more importantly, it's a dot and Klaasen stays off-strike. Slower one, Shahbaz heaves it straight down the throat of KKR skipper.
Shahbaz Ahmed c Shreyas Iyer b Harshit Rana 16 (5b, 1x4, 2x6)
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M Jansen
A Russell
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Pat Cummins
*
Harshit Rana
Eden Gardens, Kolkata
