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Kolkata, Mar 23: Harshit Rana’s resilience within the ultimate over and Andre Russel’s muscling fifty helped Kolkata Knight Riders survive Heinrich Klaasen’s six-hitting spree and rating an exhilarating four-run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad of their IPL match right here on Saturday.
Klaassen virtually turned the match on its head with a 29-ball 63 during which he moussed eight sixes with no single 4.
However SRH bravely chased KKR’s imposing 208/7, which was constructed round Russell’s (64, 25b) and Phil Salt’s 54 (40b), however might solely make 204 for seven.
The South African took IPL’s costliest purchase Mitchell Starc to cleaners smashing him for 3 sixes, whereas Bengal cricketer Shahbaz Ahmed ended the Aussie left-arm fast’s over with one other six.
That 26-run over meant Starc, who joined the Knight Riders for a document Rs 24.75 crore, completed with woeful figures of 4-0-53-0.
Needing 13 off the final over, KKR gambled with rookie pacer Rana as he was hammered for seven runs off the primary two balls.
However first he dismissed Shahabaz after which Klaassen off his penultimate supply, which got here by means of an excellent backward diving catch by Suyash Sharma, to offer the native facet a incredible win.
The Hyderabad outfit wanted 5 runs off the final ball however skipper Pat Cummins failed to attach the ball, as Rana completed with nice figures (3/33).
Chasing the imposing goal on a fantastic batting deck at Eden Gardens, Hyderabad discovered themselves at 145/5, needing 61 runs from 19 balls earlier than Klaasen got here in.
Earlier, openers Mayank Agarwal and Abhishek Sharma, who each scored an identical 32, gave SRH an ideal begin.
The duo made 60 runs in 33 balls earlier than Agarwal was dismissed by Rana.
Earlier than Rana acquired into the act, KKR’s trump card Narine dished out his sorcery. The West Indian bowled from seventh to thirteenth over, and gave away simply 19 runs in 4 overs.
He took just one wicket however stifled SRH’s progress within the middle-overs.
Nonetheless, KKR’s fielding was an eyesore. Varun Chakravarthy’s health was at all times a priority and it got here to fore when he dropped a dolly to deprive Narine the wicket of Rahul Tripathi.
The previous KKR batter acquired one other reprieve within the subsequent over and this time impression participant Suyash failed to carry on to a return catch.
It will have been a boundary, however umpire Yeshwant Barde acquired in the best way of the ball, leaving him grounded.
Earlier, Salt acquired third IPL fifty in simply 38 balls earlier than being dismissed by Mayank Markande (2/39).
The Englishman made 54 off 40 after Narine (2), Venkatesh Iyer (7), Shreyas Iyer (0) and Nitish Rana (9) fell cheaply with pacer T Natarajan (3/32) making early dents.
However KKR had the ‘Dre Russ’ energy of their ranks.
Russell teed off towards Markande when he launched the SRH leg-spinner deep into the stands — three sixes in 5 balls.
Markande for a second thought that he had the final giggle when Aiden Markram took a blinder at long-on however replays confirmed he grounded the ahead diving catch, giving Russell a breather on 20.
The warning indicators have been on for SRH and the Jamaican went ballistic in Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s penultimate over hitting him for 2 fours and two sixes, taking 26 runs.
Rinku Singh, on the different finish, made a 15-ball 23 because the duo put collectively 81 runs from 33 balls as Kolkata scored 85 runs within the final 5 overs.
Nonetheless, credit score must also go to Salt and Ramandeep Singh.
Salt remained agency regardless of early wickets and acquired useful help from debutant Ramandeep who rapidly ran off the blocks in an entertaining 54-run partnership.
Ramandeep slammed Cummins for a boundary after which pulled a brief one for a six.
He additionally hit Markande and Marco Jansen and Shahbaz Ahmed for 3 extra sixes in his 17-ball 35 earlier than being dismissed by Cummins.
The partnership set the tone for the ultimate assault by Russell and Rinku. PTI TAP UNG
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(This story has not been edited by News18 workers and is revealed from a syndicated information company feed – PTI)
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