IPL SRL | SRH vs KKR Evaluation Chart: Sandeep Sharma heroics in vain as KKR scamper home in last over thriller
Sandeep Sharma bowled the ultimate spell by a pacer in the history of Simulated Reality League but that rendered helpless as Kuldeep Yadav kept his calm to finish off the proceedings for KKR. The two-wicket win, however, was orchestrated by Nitish Rana who played a solid 48-ball 81-run innings.
Match Review
A great powerplay and then a mediocre 15 overs, Sunrisers Hyderabad had a roller-coaster of sorts. After managing as many as 70 runs in the first six overs, thanks to Jonny Bairstow and David Warner’s brisk start to the proceedings, KKR choked them with trial by spin and there was no way out. So much so that the middle-over phase only contributed 69 runs, followed by 47 runs at the death and that helped them stay in the race. The major reason for the same was SRH batsmen holding on to their wicket which ensured a defendable total of 185 runs on board - 41 of which came from Williamson’s wicket.
Chasing 186, Kolkata suffered an initial stutter in the form of Shubman Gill, but Nitish Rana and Sunil Narine helped them tide over that period, adding 116 runs for the second wicket, a bulk of which was scored by the former. After that, it seemed all hunky-dory for the visitors to wrap up an easy win, but Sunrisers bowlers had other plans in mind in the death overs. Sandeep Sharma, in particular, was really effective, dismissing four KKR batsmen within a span of seven balls, but Bhuvneshwar Kumar conceded 18 runs in one over to hand over the game to KKR, when it should have been SRH, by two wickets.
You can check out the live scorecard and the match tracker here
Turning Point
Whatever the score that might be, if Andre Russell is still out there batting, you never sign off KKR. With Karthik on the other end, KKR was darn favourites to win the encounter when the death over approached, but Sandeep Sharma quashed that dream in one over of audacious pace bowling. But Bhuvneshwar Kumar became the ultimate villain when he conceded 18 runs in one over to virtually end their hope. At that point, even Sharma picked another pair of wickets rendered ineffective.
Highs and Lows
For me, the high in the game was the way Nitish Rana approached the run chase today. Rana, as a package, can disturb the established order and today’s SRL encounter proved why he is rated so highly. Coming in after Gill’s dismissal, with a big target to chase, Rana never got fussed by anything but kept his cool to score a magnificent 81 off 48 balls and helped the side over the line. With Narine being reticent in his approach at one end, Rana ensured the scorecard kept on moving forward.
The low is actually a no brainer for me - Kane Williamson’s innings might have been impactful for his side, for none else managed to score as much as he did, but he took 36 balls for his 41, which is simply unacceptable in a T20 match. Williamson, in the process, also failed to take much strike, which is evident from the fact that he came out to bat in the fourth over and was dismissed in the 20th over. Surely a lot was expected from one of the finest in the business.
Rating Charts
Powerplay exploitation: Hyderabad 8.5/10 Kolkata 6/10
Hyderabad seemed completely determined not to commit the same errors that dragged them to the hell’s door last time, with Jonny Bairstow firing from the outset. Even though his stay could only last eight balls, he had 20 runs to offer during that period, with David Warner helping the side to a fantastic position. When the field restriction was lifted, the South Indian side had already reached a decent total of 70 runs, with two talismanic batsmen Warner and Williamson in the middle.
After losing Shubman Gill in the first over, Kolkata duo of Sunil Narine and Nitish Rana batted cautiously, with the backs solidly on the eventual target. Apart from one Sandeep Sharma over, which yielded 15 runs, there was not a single over where 10 or more runs were scored and that talks up the approach taken by the KKR duo. Eventually, they managed 54 runs which was a decent undertaking considering the long batting order the side possesses.
Middle-overs manoeuvring: Hyderabad 5.5/10 Kolkata 6/10
Kane Williamson’s surprisingly slow batting display dropped the intensity of run-scoring, with the hosts managing a total of 69 runs in the nine-over middle-over phase. The cascading effect can actually be attributed to David Warner’s dismissal in the 7th over for a 25-ball 38, from which SRH could never really recover from. With Williamson holding one end up with no real addition, Hyderabad failed to ride on the powerplay momentum and only got to 139/6 in 20 overs.
Kolkata’s middle over phase was an excellent benchmark in the truest sense, with the side adding 83 runs and didn’t lose a single wicket. When the 15th over mark arrived, the side was on 137/2, needing just 50 runs to win in five overs. It was a perfectly do-able target for the last five overs, something that pushes me to give this phase a rating of 6.
Death bowling: Hyderabad 7/10 Kolkata 7/10
Riding on the good work done by the spinners and of course, Andre Russell in the middle over, Kolkata pacers did well to contain the run-flow in the death too, with the last five overs adding just 47 runs. For Hyderabad, what is flabbergasting though, is Williamson was there in the middle until the last over yet the returns were disturbing. Kolkata will be happy about their bowlers doing the containment job to perfection - something that was not seen in the previous games.
Was this the most dramatic death bowling ever? The roller-coaster was really hard to predict, with each over tilting the game in one team’s favour before it turned the other side in a flash. KKR ultimately ended up on the right side of the result, but you can hardly fault a side, who managed to secure six opposition wickets, during the phase. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who gave away 18 runs to Rahul Tripathi in one over, was the only culprit, otherwise, it was a job well done by the SRH bowlers.
Match Frenzy O Meter - Interesting
Boring for the majority of it, the drama that was transpired in the death overs ensured that the match ultimately ended up as an interesting one for it was difficult to predict the winner until Kuldeep Yadav dispatched Sandeep Sharma for a six to finish off the proceedings. For a neutral fan, if patience allowed them to sit through the match, this is truly a Paisa Vasool game.