Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 23 runs in the IPL here on Friday
Posted Date – Fri, 4/14/23 at 11:45pm
Photo: IANS
Calcutta: England’s new batsman Harry Brook came down to earth with a sensational 55-ball century for the high-flying Kolkata Knight Riders as Sunrisers Hyderabad trotted to a 23-run IPL here on Saturday Second victory.
Young Brook finally managed to crack the IPL code, with SRH managing 4 runs for 228 in their stipulated 20-run beauties. Their bowlers were limited to 7 for 205 balls in 20 overs despite some batting by home captains Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh.
Pulled in after a feat for Pakistan, Brooke finally announced his arrival in style when he hit four fours and two sixes in his first three rounds to bring SRH Best start to the season.
Bought by SRH for a whopping Rs 13.25 crore, Brook had struck just 29 balls in his first three games but found a rhythm in his 55-ball 100, hitting 12 fours and three sixes . This is the first century of the 16th edition.
In response, KKR always struggled to maintain a run rate of more than 11 overs per over, but captain Rana (75 off 41 balls) did hit the SRH bowlers with six sixes and was “man of the moment” Rinku Singh ( 58 balls not out and 31 balls) with just 6.2 turnovers in their 69-run standoff. This was after KR was reduced to 96 fo 5 in the first 10 overs.
Once T Natarajan got rid of Rana, it was left to Rinku for another heist as 57 runs were needed for the last three rounds.
But Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/29 in 4 overs) bowled 10 in the 18th over, while Natarajan (1/54 in 4 overs) bowled 16 in the penultimate over.
With Rinku’s strike and the last needing 32 downs, Umran Malik (1/36 in 2 overs) came back nicely to dismiss Shardul Thakur’s first pitch and effectively sealed the game as the southpaw was on the first two overs Got stuck at the other end when bowling. Rinku faced four balls but Umran bowled fast and full to keep him in check and conceded just eight runs.
Brook ‘Bonds’ and the SRH Philosophy
Early on, Brooke, who had been given a reprieve for 45 overs, easily bowled himself when he was dropped by rookie spinner Suyash Sharma, who bowled 50 off 32 balls.
Brooke also overturned Rock Ferguson’s trailing decision at the age of 61 as he beat New Zealand’s fiery Pacers in five quarters to reach his first century of the season, beating Umesh in the final Yadav’s singles over.
KKR’s fielding was also a major disappointment when it came to bowling, as skipper Aiden Markram also had an influential innings in midfield when he ran 26 balls for 50 innings and the pair batted for 72 from 47 balls point.
Young left-handed batsman Abhishek Sharma (32; 17b) provided good support after Markram’s departure as the duo also added 72 runs (33b) to add to KKR’s misery.
Heinrich Klaasen then bowled with KKR’s choice of 16 for 6 overs as SRH put on their best batting performance.
With the exception of the Caribbeans, Sunil Narine (4-0-28-0) and Andre Russell (2.1-0-22-3) who were unable to complete the catch with strained muscles, none of the KKR bowlers failed to impress .
The day belonged entirely to the English batsman as he replicated his success in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) with the bat as he scored 264 runs in eight innings for Qalandars Lahore, including a century, 2022. The batting average is 171.4.
Brook also had jaw-dropping numbers in the Test, hitting 809 runs in 10 innings with four centuries and three 50s.
KKR may have missed the opportunity to give him some easy rhythm fodder as Brooke was happy to take Yadav to the cleaners and a fiery Ferguson was wayward, with both conceding 14 runs in the opener.
Sunil Narine kept three points from 43 to drag them into fourth, which was perfectly set up for Andre Russell to inflict a double whammy.
Bowling for the first time this season, the Jamaican dismissed Mayank Agarwal straight away (9; 13b) before pulling a muscle.
However, Russell made it through and took an in-form Rahul Tripathi’s wicket in the final kick to give KKR a crucial start.
But Brook and skipper Markram batted wisely, especially against Nalin, as they ran to around 50 to keep their run rate around 10.
The SRH captain gave Brook good support and negotiated the middle offside well in an interesting 72 overs, taking just 47 balls.
Brief score: 20 rounds SRH 228/4 (Harry Brooks 100 not out, Aiden Markram 50; Andre Russell 3/22) vs KKR 205/7 in 20 rounds (Nitish Rana 75, Rinku Singh 58 not out; Mayank Markande 2/27).
