Hyderabad (TIP)– The self-destructing batters let Sunrisers Hyderabad down again to hand Kolkata Knight Riders a much-needed five-run win in the IPL here on May 4.
Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh came up with a fruitful 61-run partnership to help Kolkata post 171/9 and then their bowlers, especially Shardul Thakur (2/23) and Vaibhav Arora (2/32), helped the two-time IPL champions limit Hyderabad to 166/8 in 20 overs.
Varun Chakravarthy bowled a brilliant last over to eke out a win for his team.
Kolkata earned their fourth victory of the season and are now on eight points, while Hyderabad, who remained stranded on six points, suffered a huge blow to their chances of making the playoffs. It was a hard-fought for Kolkata, given that Hyderabad’s South African pair of skipper Aiden Markram (41 off 40 balls) and Heinrich Klaasen (36 off 20 balls) had at one point looked to take the match away with their 70-run partnership.
Brief scores: KKR: 171/9 in 20 overs (Rinku 46, Rana 42; Jansen 2/24); SRH: 166/8 in 20 overs (Markram 41; Thakur 2/23).
Top spot at stake as RR take on GT
Jaipur: Gujarat Titans will be eager to better their underwhelming batting display when they take on an inconsistent Rajasthan Royals in the IPL here tomorrow. Both teams are coming off losses and will look to get back to winning ways. Gujarat are perched atop the points table with 12 points despite their five-run loss to Delhi Capitals, while Rajasthan are fourth with 10 points. The Sanju Samson-led side has ample talent but has been unable to hold on to their winning run recently. They have lost three games and won as many in their last six fixtures. In their last match against Mumbai Indians, their bowling department failed to defend 212. Pace spearhead Trent Boult, all-rounder Jason Holder, spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Sen all bled runs. However, Rajasthan can take some solace from the fact that they emerged victorious earlier in the season against Gujarat. Source: PTI