Uthappa drives Kolkata to a comfortable victory
Kolkata, April 15: Riding on Robin Uthappa’s gritty half-century and spinners’ contribution, Kolkata Knight Riders secured a 17run win over defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad in their Indian Premier League match and climbed to the top of the table. Defending a tricky 173 on a lively Eden track, KKR spin trio of Kuldeep Yadav (1/23), Sunil Narine (1/18) and Yusuf Pathan (1/2) gave vital breakthroughs to dent the chase of the Sunrisers and hand the team its second successive win at home.
For the Sunrisers, who began their campaign with back-to-back victories at home, this was their second defeat on the trot.
David Warner (26 off 30; 4x4) and Shikhar Dhawan (23 off 22; 4x4) gave Sunrisers a flying start with 45 from six overs but parttime spinner Pathan turned it around by removing the Indian left-hander en route to his impressive figures of 1-0- 2-1.
Brought in place of Piyush Chawla, chinaman Kuldeep then made his presence felt. He along with Narine accounted for 22 dot balls in the middle overs to put brakes in their chase. India’s 2011 World Cup hero Yuvraj Singh provided some to Sunrisers’ chase, hammering two sixes and two fours en route to his 16-ball 26.
But Chris Woakes (2/49) dismissed him as substitute Rishi Dhawan took a brilliant running catch at longon. Sunrisers needed 30 runs in the last over and Trent Boult (1/33) conceded just 12 to ensure a comfortable win for KKR. The Kolkata outfit also maintained their clean record at home, winning five out of five in an overall 7-3 windefeat record against the title-holders. The surprise breakthrough not only put brakes on scoring but was enough to create pressure in the ranks as KKR went on to strike two wickets — Dhawan and Warner in four overs for 14 runs. — PTI