NEW DELHI: Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 22 runs in a do-or-die clash at Feroz Shah Kotla here on Wednesday night.
Three teams had defended successfully in five games on slow Feroz Shah Kotla surfaces this season. There was no reason why Sunrisers Hyderabad, with one of the best bowling attacks in the competition despite Ashish Nehra’s absence, couldn’t defend 163 in a knockout game. Kolkata Knight Riders, meanwhile, had won six out of their eight games chasing. This was therefore an even contest on a surface of the kind Knight Riders have thrived on back home in Kolkata. But the loss of early wickets on the face of some disciplined bowling and outstanding fielding by Surisers derailed the two-time champions. Sunrisers, by virtue of a 22-run win, setup a clash with Gujarat Lions in Qualifier-2 at the same venue on Friday.
It wasn’t a night of manic six-hitting or breathtaking batting by any stretch, but Yuvraj Singh’s 30-ball 44 had all the elements that made him a feared limited-overs batsman once upon a time. Yet the effort that underlined his importance on Wednesday was a direct hit from backward point to send back Colin Munro early in Knight Riders’ chase to induce a hint of panic. An effort of that kind automatically lifted a unit that applied pressure courtesy David Warner’s tactful bowling changes to escalate the asking rate. Bhuvneshwar Kumar then pulled off a stunner at deep midwicket to dismiss the in-form Yusuf Pathan to further dent Knight Riders as they slumped to 69 for 4 in the 11th over.
A no-holds-barred contest then came alive as Manish Pandey and Suryakumar Yadav counter-punched, their 46-run stand, laced with unorthodoxy, but there was always the danger of them perishing in the quest for one big hit too many. Suryakumar, who was reprieved in the 15th over by Mustafizur Rahman at third man, couldn’t kick on, and miscued a slog to Shikhar Dhawan in the next over to leave Knight Riders needing 47 off 24.
Warner immediately summoned his trump card Mustafizur for the first of his two remaining overs, and he responded by conceding just eight. With no option but to go for hell or high water, Pandey kept swinging, one of which found Deepak Hooda at long-on. His dismissal on 36 brought about an air of inevitability to the chase as Bhuvneshwar, who finished with 3 for 19, followed the dismissal by spearing in yorkers and full-length deliveries which the batsmen couldn’t get underneath. It was reduced to a game of hit and miss from there on, much like it was in the first half when Yusuf Pathan an Morne Morkel had Sunrisers, who were sent in, struggling for early momentum.
Dhawan’s early dismissal forced Warner to tread cautiously. He scored his first boundary off his 10th delivery, but his methods deviated from the usual. The muscular hits were replaced with drives and dabs behind the wicket. He was reprieved on 10 when Yusuf put down a difficult chance off his own bowling in the fifth over, but he would only go on to add 18 more.
By squeezing out three bonus overs from Yusuf in the Powerplay, Gambhir ensured there was enough bowling arsenal to quell Sunrisers in the middle overs. They also limited Warner’s off-side strokeplay by sticking to tight lines. The first six was hit by Henriques, when he pulled Yusuf towards deep midwicket to signal Sunrisers’ move; the first six overs, four of which were bowled by the spinners, produced 43.
Kuldeep Yadav introduced in the eighth over was hard to pick. As well as they did to rotate strike, the pair found boundary scoring difficult, as a three-over period after the first six brought just one boundary. The pressure started to tell, and Kuldeep reaped the rewards as his double strike stunted Sunrisers in the 10th over. After taking a skier off his own bowling to send back Henriques, who attempted an across-the-line swipe, he clean bowled Warner with a wrong’un that beat his powerful sweep. At 71 for 3 at the halfway mark, Sunrisers had to start afresh.