KKR Vs SRH Highlights, IPL 2024: Heinrich Klaasen's Power Hitting Falls Just Short in Chasing KKR's Big Target

SRH won the toss and opted to bowl first, allowing KKR to establish a challenging target of 209 runs. Despite Sunrisers Hyderabad's determined chase, they fell short, managing only 204/7. Kolkata Knight Riders clinched a thrilling victory by a narrow margin of 4 runs. 

Kolkata Knight Riders Innings

KKR started the innings with a little slow with loosing early wickets. Philip Salt 54(40) and Impact player Ramandeep Singh 35(17) put some decent score on the board but Andrew Russel steals the show with smashing in the death overs he made 64 from 25 balls he hit 7 sixes and 3 fours. Rinku Singh 23(15) rotated the strike for Russel. Over all KKR put some heavy target of 208/7 at the end of the first innings.

SRH Bowling

Sunrises Hyderabad started with getting early wickets of top order batsmens Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer, and Rana but completely lost the rythm in death overs as Russel smashed all the SRH bowlers and only Natarajan was effective in the last over, or else score would have been more than another 20+. T.Natarajan 32/3 (4), Mayank Markande 39/2(4).

Sunrises Hyderabad Batting 

SRH started to chase with a big target, as Mayank Agarwal scored 32 runs off 21 balls and Abhishek Sharma contributed 32 runs off 19 balls, setting the pace in the initial powerplay with a score of 61/1. However, after the dismissals of Rahul Tripati and Aiden Markram, Klaasen and Samad made valiant efforts to boost the scoreboard with some massive sixes, providing some relief in the chase. Despite a promising partnership, tension resurfaced after Samad's dismissal. Nevertheless, Klaasen and Shahbaz Ahmed's 50+ partnership appeared to make the target seem achievable. However, in the final over, consecutive wickets fell, thwarting their chase.

KKR Bowling

Mitchell Starc's bowling spell during the powerplay overs proved to be costly, while Varun Chakravarthy also leaked runs in his initial over. Harshit Rana intervened by breaking the partnership with the wicket of Mayank Agarwal, followed by Russell dismissing set batsman Abhishek Sharma. Despite being an impact player, Suyash Sharma failed to make an impression with his bowling. However, in the death overs, poor bowling from Mitchell Starc and Varun Chakravarthy allowed SRH to potentially win easily. Nevertheless, it was Harshit Rana who emerged as the hero of the match, displaying excellent control over the set batsmen in the final over and ultimately leading KKR to victory.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): 

Pat Cummins(c), Mayank Agarwal, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Marco Jansen, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Markande, T Natarajan(IP->), Abhishek Sharma(IP<-).

Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): 

Shreyas Iyer(c), Philip Salt(w), Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Ramandeep Singh(IP->), Mitchell Starc, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Suyash Sharma(IP<-).

Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad have faced each other 25 times in IPL T20, with KKR leading with 15 wins compared to SRH's 9 win and 1 draw. Particularly at the Eden Gardens, KKR boasts an even more impressive record, securing 6 wins out of 9 matches, while SRH has won just 3 matches at Eden Gardens stadium.

The Eden Gardens pitch appears in excellent condition, with perfect weather prevailing. The dimensions of the ground are 67 meters and 62 meters square, with a straight distance of 75 meters. Although not expansive, there's a slight tinge of brown grass on the pitch. It's expected to be a batting paradise, with plenty of runs anticipated. However, as the game progresses, the pitch may become trickier for batsmen, offering assistance to spinners. Thus, the team winning the toss would prefer to bat first and set a formidable total. Despite the favorable conditions for batsmen, bowlers may find hope, especially considering that last year's average first innings score was 193, and wrist spinners played a significant role. Both teams boast experienced bowlers who must rely on their expertise to maintain control over the game.

The IPL 2024 Match 3 between KKR Vs SRH broadcasted on the Star Sports Network in India. Live streaming was available on the JioCinema app and also on their official website.