Sunrisers Hyderabad triumph over Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2023 despite Rana and Rinku's valiant efforts
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) registered a comprehensive 23-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in a high-scoring Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 encounter at Eden Gardens on Friday. After SRH posted a mammoth total of 228/4 in their allotted 20 overs, KKR could only manage 205-7 in response.
Chasing the massive target, KKR got off to a terrible start as Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismissed Rahmanullah Gurbaz for a duck in the very first over. Marco Jansen then struck twice in quick succession, removing Venkatesh Iyer and Sunil Narine to leave KKR reeling at 23/3. However, skipper Nitish Rana counter-attacked with a brilliant knock of 75 off 41 balls, which included six sixes and five boundaries. He formed a 62-run partnership with N Jagadeesan for the fourth wicket, but Mayank Markande ended Jagadeesan's stay. Rana then found a reliable partner in Rinku Singh, who smashed an unbeaten 58 off just 31 balls, including four boundaries and four sixes. However, their efforts were not enough as KKR fell short by 23 runs.
Earlier, SRH rode on Harry Brooks' unbeaten 100 off 55 balls and Aiden Markram's 50 off 26 balls to post a massive total. Andre Russell was the pick of the bowlers for KKR, taking three wickets for 22 runs.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar was impressive with the ball for SRH, finishing with figures of 1/22 in his four overs. Marco Jansen and Mayank Markande picked up two wickets each for SRH.
Despite Rana's valiant knock, KKR suffered their third defeat in four matches in IPL 2023. On the other hand, SRH registered their second win in three matches to move up to fourth in the points table.
In conclusion, it was a high-scoring encounter that saw SRH emerge as the winners. While KKR put up a strong fight with Rana and Rinku's heroics, SRH's impressive batting display and disciplined bowling proved to be too much for the hosts.
