Picture courtesy : BCCI
Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Kane Williamson once again led from the front with a solid fifty as Sunrisers Hyderabad overcame middle order jitters to beat Kolkata Knight Riders by five wickets in their IPL match the Eden Gardens.
The New Zealand skipper has been inspirational right from the from the first match and not letting the side miss David Warner as skipper. Warner had to step down as SRH skipper following the ban by Cricket Australia after the ball tampering controversy.
Williamson struck exactly fifty off 44 deliveries, hitting four boundaries and a six to help Sunrisers chase down the small target of 139 after the visiting side were reduced to 55 for 3 in the ninth over.
Opener Wriddhiman Saha and Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan made useful contributions of 24 and 27 respectively. Williamson’s 59-run stand with Shakib — who also took two wickets in KKR innings — for the fourth wicket eased the pressure on the Sunrisers as they reached 139 for 5 in 19 overs register their third win .
Williamson was out in the 18th over with the Sunrisers needing 20 from 2.4 overs but Yusuf Pathan (17 not out off 7 balls) hit a four and a six in the 19th over bowled by Andre Russell to finish off the match with one over to spare.
Earlier , splendid bowling show by pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar helped Sunrisers Hyderabad restrict Kolkata Knight Riders to a modest 138/8 in a rain-interrupted IPL match .
SRH’s overseas duo of Billy Stanlake (2/21) and former KKR player Shakib Al Hasan (2/22) put the brakes in the middle overs, triggering a collapse after a one-hour rain delay. Shalib was a star turner bagging two vital wickets of Chris Lynn (49 off 34 balls; 7×4, 1×6) and Sunil Narine (9).
