Kolkata Knight Riders beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 54 runs in match 61 of IPL 2022. While the road to the playoffs is still very difficult for KKR – they need to win their remaining league game against LSG by a big margin and also depend on the results of other teams – this win has ensured that they are still in the race. Hyderabad, too, are still in the race and need to win both their remaining games along with depending on others’ results to make it to the next round.
Batting first, KKR put up 177 runs in their 20 overs. The main contributors were Nitish Rana, Sam Billings and Andre Russell. While Rana and Billings scored 26 and 34 runs each, Russell remained unbeaten on 49 off 28. His knock was laced with three boundaries and four maximums, two of which came in the last over.
T Natarajan was Sunrisers’ most expensive bowler, having conceded 43 runs in his four overs. Umran Malik was the best bowler, having picked three wickets for 33 runs.
Chasing 178 runs to win, the Sunrisers stuttered all through their chase. Seven of their batsmen scored in single digits, while the only significant knock came from opener Abhishek Sharma, who scored 43 off 28.
Andre Russell was the wrecker-in-chief, picking up three wickets for 22 runs in his four overs. Tim Southee also picked up two wickets, while Umesh Yadav, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy chipped in with a wicket each.
Image credit: IPL
