After two unbelievable wins out of nowhere, KKR couldn’t produce magic again and went down to SRH by 23 runs at the Eden Gardens. SRH recorded their second consecutive win.
Here are two major reasons for KKR’s loss vs SRH:
Harry Brook’s sensational knock
Finally, after scores of 13, 3, and 13, Harry Brook has left a big impression on the IPL as he smashed the first century of this year’s tournament. The 24-year-old young England batsman plundered 100* runs in 55 balls with the help of 12 fours and 3 sixes.
This, along with a belligerent half-century from Aiden Markram and a cameo from Abhishek Sharma, propelled SRH’s score to 228.
While Brook ransacked against the KKR pacers, Markram and Abhishek attacked the spinners.
Andre Russell fails to fire again with the bat
Andre Russell made an impact with the ball, taking 3 wickets. But the big West Indian faltered with the bat again. He scored only 3 runs, following on from scores of 35, 0, and 1. His dismissals in his last two knocks to spinners Rashid Khan and Markande, while trying to hit them out of the park, are a bit concerning, and further exposing his weakness against leg-spin.
In such a tall chase of 229, KKR needed their beast of a batsman to fire, but Russell failed. Half-centuries from Rana and Rinku needed a thunderous knock from Russell for KKR to chase this target down.
****
While Kolkata Knight Riders still remain in the upper half of the table, and Sunrisers Hyderabad still remain in the bottom half of the table, both seem to be on opposite directions. Kolkata can’t hope to rely on miracles – Shardul vs RCB and Rinku vs GT – for long and will need their players to fire in unison, whereas Hyderabad is getting their team, balance, and act together after two early losses.
Harry Brook, the Player of the Match, said: “Was a special night. Thankfully we got over the line as well. Got a little tense in the middle. A lot of people say that opening the batting in T20 is the best time to bat. I’m happy to bat anywhere. I’ve had a lot of success batting at five. Made my name there.”
