Kolkata: England's new batting sensation Harry Brook brought a high-flying Kolkata Knight Riders down to earth with a sensational 55-ball century as Sunrisers Hyderabad cantered to its second victory by 23 runs in an IPL match, here on Saturday. Young Brook finally managed to crack the IPL code in style with SRH managing a massive 228 for 4 in their stipulated 20 overs on a batting beauty. Their bowlers despite some hammering from home skipper Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh were restricted to 205 for 7 in 20 overs.
Brook, who was roped in after his exploits in Pakistan, finally announced his arrival in style, when he smashed four fours and two sixes inside first three overs to give SRH the best start of the season. Bought by SRH for a whopping Rs 13.25 crore, Brook had managed only 29 in first three games but found his rhythm with a 55-ball-100 as he smashed 12 fours and three sixes. This was 16th edition's first century.
In reply, it was always going to be difficult for KKR to maintain a run-rate of 11 plus per over but skipper Rana (75 off 41 balls) did launch into SRH bowlers with half a dozen sixes and had 'Man of the Moment' Rinku Singh (58 not out off 31 balls) for company in their 69-run stand off only 6.2 overs. This was after KR were reduced to 96 fo 5 within first 10 overs.
Once T Natarajan got rid of Rana, it was left to Rinku to pull off yet another heist as 57 were needed off last three overs. But Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/29 in 4 overs) gave 10 in the 18th over while Natarajan (1/54 in 4 overs) went for 16 in the penultimate over. With Rinku on strike and 32 needed off last over, Umran Malik (1/36 in 2 overs) came back well to dismiss Shardul Thakur with the first delivery and effectively sealing the game as the southpaw was stranded at the other end for first two deliveries. Rinku face four balls but Umran bowled fast and full to keep him under check with only eight runs being conceded.
Brook 'Bonds' with SRH philosophy
Earlier, having got a reprieve on 45, when he was dropped by rookie leg-spinner Suyash Sharma an easy chance off his own bowling, Brook got to his 50 off 32 balls. Brook also overturned a caught-behind decision off Lockie Ferguson when on 61, as he hammered the Kiwi fiery pacer in the same over five fours, en route to the first century of the season, which came off a single off Umesh Yadav in the final over.
Opted to bowl, KKR fielding was also a big letdown as Skipper Aiden Markram also played an impactful innings in the middle when he raced to a 26-ball fifty as the duo stitched together 72 runs from 47 balls. After Markram's departure, young left-handed batter Abhishek Sharma (32; 17b) gave a fine support as the duo also added 72 runs (33b) to pile on KKR's misery.
Heinrich Klaasen then played a cameo of 16 not out in six balls as SRH dished out a superlative batting display after KKR opted to bowl. Barring Caribbeans, Sunil Narine (4-0-28-0) and Andre Russell (2.1-0-22-3) who pulled a muscle and could not complete his overs, none of the KKR bowlers failed to impress.
The day fully belonged to the English batter, who carried his bat replicating his success in Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he had scored 264 runs for Lahore Qalandars in eight innings, which included a century, at a strike rate of 171.4 in 2022 edition.
Brook also has eye-popping numbers in Tests and has scored 809 runs with four centuries and three fifties in 10 innings. KKR may have missed the trick by giving him some easy pace fodder to begin with as Brook was happy to take Yadav to cleaners, while the fiery Ferguson was wayward, both conceding 14 runs in their opening overs.
From 43 for no loss in three overs, Sunil Narine managed to drag them in a tidy fourth over that perfectly set it up for Andre Russell to inflict a double blow. Bowling for the first time this season, the Jamaican dismissed Mayank Agarwal (9; 13b) straightway before pulling a muscle. Russell however managed to finish the over and took the wicket of in-form Rahul Tripathi in the last-ball to give KKR the vital opening.
But Brook and skipper Markram batted sensibly, especially against Narine and raced to quick fifties to keep their run-rate near the 10-run mark. The SRH skipper gave Brook a fine support and negotiated the middle overs well in an entertaining 72-run partnership that came off just 47 balls. (PTI)
Scoreboard: KKR versus SRH
KKR innings:
Rahmanullah Gurbaz c Umran Malik b Bhuvneshwar 0
N Jagadeesan c Glenn Phillips b Markande 36
Venkatesh Iyer c Markram b Marco Jansen 10
Sunil Narine c Markram b Marco Jansen 0
Nitish Rana c Washington Sundar b T Natarajan 75
Andre Russell c Marco Jansen b Markande 3
Rinku Singhnot out 58
Shardul Thakur c Washington Sundar b Umran Malik 12
Umesh Yadav not out 1
Extras (lb 2, w 6, nb 2) 10
Total (7 wkts, 20 overs) 205
Fall of Wickets 0-1, 20-2, 20-3, 82-4, 96-5, 165-6, 197-7
Bowlers: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4-12-9-1, Marco Jansen 4-0-37-2, T Natarajan 4-0-54-1, Umran Malik 2-0-36-1, Mayank Markande 4-0-27-2, Washington Sundar 2-0-20-0.
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Harry Brook smashes hundred as SRH score 228-4 vs KKR
Kolkata: England's new batting sensation Harry Brook, finally managed to crack the IPL code in style, blazing his way to first century of this edition as Sunrisers' Hyderabad piled up a mammoth 228 for 4 against Kolkata Knight Riders, here on Friday. Brook, who was roped in after his exploits in Pakistan, finally announced his arrival in style, when he smashed four fours and two sixes inside first three overs to give SRH the best start of the season.
Bought by SRH for a whopping Rs 13.25 crore, Brook had managed only 29 in first three games but found his rhythm with a 55-ball-100 as he smashed 12 fours and three sixes. Having got a reprieve on 45, when he was dropped by rookie leg-spinner Suyash Sharma an easy chance off his own bowling, Englishman got to his 50 off 32 balls.
Brook also overturned a caught-behind decision off Lockie Ferguson when on 61, as he hammered the Kiwi fiery pacer in the same over five fours, en route to the first century of the season, which came off a single off Umesh Yadav in the final over. Opted to bowl, KKR fielding was also a big letdown as Skipper Aiden Markram also played an impactful innings in the middle when he raced to a 26-ball fifty as the duo stitched together 72 runs from 47 balls.
After Markram's departure, young left-handed batter Abhishek Sharma (32; 17b) gave a fine support as the duo also added 72 runs (33b) to pile on KKR's misery. Heinrich Klaasen then played a cameo of 16 not out in six balls as SRH dished out a superlative batting display after KKR opted to bowl.
Barring Caribbeans, Sunil Narine (4-0-28-0) and Andre Russell (2.1-0-22-3) who pulled a muscle and could not complete his overs, none of the KKR bowlers failed to impress. The day fully belonged to the English batter, who carried his bat replicating his success in Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he had scored 264 runs for Lahore Qalandars in eight innings, which included a century, at a strike rate of 171.4 in 2022 edition.
Brook also has eye-popping numbers in Tests and has scored 809 runs with four centuries and three fifties in 10 innings. KKR may have missed the trick by giving him some easy pace fodder to begin with as Brook was happy to take Yadav to cleaners, while the fiery Ferguson was wayward, both conceding 14 runs in their opening overs.
From 43 for no loss in three overs, Sunil Narine managed to drag them in a tidy fourth over that perfectly set it up for Andre Russell to inflict a double blow. Bowling for the first time this season, the Jamaican dismissed Mayank Agarwal (9; 13b) straightway before pulling a muscle.
Russell however managed to finish the over and took the wicket of in-form Rahul Tripathi in the last-ball to give KKR the vital opening. But Brook and skipper Markram batted sensibly, especially against Narine and raced to quick fifties to keep their run-rate near the 10-run mark. The SRH skipper gave Brook a fine support and negotiated the middle overs well in an entertaining 72-run partnership that came off just 47 balls. (Match report taken from PTI)
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- After the early departure of Mayank Agarwal (9) and Rahul Tripathi (9), Harry Brook has not been only holding the innings together but is firing canons as SRH are well on their way to a big score. Skipper Aiden Markram (50) too contributed to Hyderabad's score while clinching a crucial partnership with Brook.
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Kolkata: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) won the toss and opted to field against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) here at the Eden Gardens.
Here's what the captains had to say:
Aiden Markram: Happy either way. Would have looked to bowl, that is the trend. This is a high scoring wicket, so happy to get runs on the board. Nice to get a win, and today is a fresh start. Hopefully we can do well. One change, Abhishek Sharma comes in for Washi Sundar. I don't think we'll set a target, you need to look at the pitch and then reassess. Whatever we get we'll try our best to defend.
Nitish Rana: We'll bowl first. We've been practicing here and there has been dew. Keeping in mind, we want to chase. Same XI for today.
Teams:
Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Harry Brook, Mayank Agarwal, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram(c), Abhishek Sharma, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Marco Jansen, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Markande, Umran Malik, T Natarajan
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), N Jagadeesan, Nitish Rana(c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Suyash Sharma, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakaravarthy
PREVIEW
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have once again dared to dream when they were written off after the omission of key players -- skipper Shreyas Iyer and rookie all-rounder Shakib-Al-Hasan. A back-to-back win on the back of two star players Shardul Thakur and Rinku Sing has made the Kolkata side the team to beat this season.
On Thursday, they will be up against a formidable Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) that looks like a charismatic side by name but falters when they take the ground. After a reversal against Punjab Kings in Mohali, the team has emerged to be a strong contender this season. And how!
Firstly, Shardul Thakur engineered 29-ball 68 that allowed KKR to open its win bank account against the Royal Challengers Bangalore where they registered victory by a scale of 81 runs. Then came the biggest heist of the season where Rinku Singh struck 5 sixes in the last over to score 31 runs to take his team home. KKR beat defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
What makes this KKR side even more dangerous is the fact that the victories came in without any significant contribution from powerful Andre Russel or skipper Nitish Rana. One can't help but imagine the destruction the team can cause when these two start clicking at their peak.
Despite the twin wins, the KKR management would be keen to put up a team performance in the next matches to show to the other teams that it's not just a one-off or a fluke and that the team has enough firepower to take on any opposition on their day. Russel is yet to fire having scored a lone 19-ball 35 runs against Punjab Kings and will look better his score of the last two matches where he contributed 0 and 1 runs. He was seen training hard during the team's practice session.
The KKR management has been giving chance to different players for their opening slot and a changed side come this match is palpable too as Jason Roy makes a return. Afghanistan's Rahmanullah Gurbaz, despite reaching a fighting half-century that came against RCB, would have to make way for England's maverick opener Jason Roy. Roy has that in him to get under the skin of opposition attack by repeatedly blasting boundaries as he has done for the England team. Narayan Jagadeesan may have to do the glovework behind the stumps.
Contrarily, the SRH team have had a fair share of underwhelming performances despite being a team packed with white-ball specialists. Harry Brook, Mayank Agarwal and Heinrich Klaasen, who were bought at the auction with high hopes considering they can hit the ball at go have failed miserably. The ray of hope came with Rahul Tripathi whose unbeaten 48-ball 74 marked their first win when they defeated Punjab Kings by eight wickets.
Tripati will be against his former team. He provides the stability that the team needs during the middle overs and can also hit at will, especially against the spinners. The push to SRH's morale would mean they would be willing to put up a tough fight against a rampaging Kolkata who are riding on sole player successes.
SRH would also rest their hopes on Brook and Klaasen to come out well and help SRH to score big. Brook, who has been sensational in recent times, with social media flooding with glimpses of his sixes has thus far only managed scores of 13, 3 and 13 after SRH paid a lumpsum Rs 13.25 crore.
Perhaps, tweaking the batting line-up by pushing Brook down the order would serve good for the SRH team. SRH also has a good bowling lineup. The spinners Washington Sundar and Mayank Markande form a dangerous pair that can put a leash on the opponent's scoring rate and take wickets simultaneously. Mayank struck 4 wickets and conceded a meager 15 runs in his last outing against Punjab Kings.
The pace attack too is formidable with experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Marco Jansen ready to take on any opposition. KKR will be up at number 3 if they win this match against Hyderabad.
