Nitish Rana and Rinku singh. (Photo source: BCCI/IPL)
The 47th game of the Indian Premier League (2023) featured a clash between the Aiden Markram-led Sunrisers Hyderabad and the two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday, May 4.
Having posted 171 runs on the board in the first innings, Kolkata Knight Riders aimed to defend the total, and the two-time champions did just that as Heinrich Klassen and Aiden Markram’s knocks were not enough to propel Hyderabad to a win. In the end, Kolkata won the game by five runs.
Here are the Talking Points from the SRH vs KKR clash-
Nitish Rana’s resilient knock
Coming in to bat first, Kolkata Knight Riders got off to a shaky start in the first innings. As the top-order failed to amass some much needed runs on the board, Kolkata skipper Nitish Rana came through and played a resilient innings. The skipper scored 42 runs in 31 deliveries. His knock was crucial for his side in posting 171 runs on the board.
Aiden Markram’s knock in vain
The situation was similar for the hosts during the run chase. As the top-order of the side failed to impress, skipper Aiden Markram came to the front and attempted to cross the finish line with a win. Markram scored 41 runs in 40 balls. The all-rounder, however, failed to accelerate his knock and was eventually dismissed by Vaibhav Arora, and Hyderabad ended up losing the game.
Varun Chakravarthy’s spell
Kolkata Knight Riders spinner Varun Chakravarthy was sensational for his side during the run chase. Bowling four overs in the game, Chakravarthy conceded just 20 runs and took the wicket of Abdul Samad in the last over. His brilliant spell saw him earn the Player of the Match award as well.
Losing skipper Aiden Markram said:
I thought we played good cricket for a large portion of that game but unfortunately in the crunch times we got it wrong. So it’s a difficult one to swallow. Klaasy batted beautifully. I struggled quite a bit up front and partially quite a big reason for us coming up short I believe. But Klaasen played well, took a bit of pressure off me and then I could eventually find my feet. But those partnerships, we need to drag out slightly longer and those partnerships are the one that win you the game. I thought the bowlers were good. Guys threw themselves around in the field which was good to see and then with the bat, we set up some partnerships but at the end of it, those partnerships were not enough to get us across the line. You’d rather get it wrong trying to be aggressive. Ultimately guys have played enough cricket to know when is the right time and we’ll keep backing them and their decision-making. Hopefully it’s a situation that brings out the best in us. I thought we played a lot of great cricket tonight so to not get two points is not ideal and not great. But there’s a bit of confidence we can take from tonight and get four out of four.
Winning skipper Nitish Rana said:
In the middle we bowled a few loose overs and took a gamble with Shardul and Vaibhav and they managed to get both set batters and that’s how we made a comeback in this game. We had to get them out because if they bat till the end, then surely the game would have gone out of our reach. I had a doubt if I had to go with spinner/pacer and backed my spinner to do the job. I awlays see who is the best spinner on the game and that’s how I decide whom to back on the given day.
Player of the Match Varun Chakaravarthy said:
My heartbeat was touching 200 in the last over, but I wanted them to make hit to the longer part of the ground. The ball was slipping a lot and my best bet was longer side and that was my only hope. My first over I went for 12 runs, Markram hit me for 2 fours and that’s how the game goes, Last year I was bowling around 85kmph, I was trying out many things and I realized that I needed to work on my revolutions and I did work on it.