Two wickets from Lockie Ferguson helped Kolkata Knight Riders snatch a thrilling Super Over victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Sunday. The Kiwi pacer nipped out David Warner and Abdul Samad in three deliveries, leaving KKR with just three runs to chase.
Earlier, KKR had the upper hand with SRH needing 18 to win off the final over. Warner swung the momentum SRH’s way with a hat-trick of fours off Andre Russell. With four required off two, Russell pulled it back, conceding just three and stretching the match to a Super Over.
Chasing 164, Jonny Bairstow (36, 28b, 7x4) and Kane Williamson (29, 19b, 4x4, 1x6) gave SRH a flying start. The side cruised to 58 for no loss in PowerPlay, before Ferguson, playing his first match, had Williamson caught off his first ball.
Priyam Garg, Bairstow and Manish Pandey then fell in quick succession before Pat Cummins accounted for Vijay Shankar. However, Warner’s unbeaten 33-ball 47 (5x4) ensured that the teams finished on an even keel.
Put in to bat, KKR scored just 15 off the first three overs before Rahul Tripathi switched gears, hitting T. Natarajan for a six and a four in the fourth over. At the other end, Shubman Gill (36, 37b, 5x4) broke the shackles with three back-to-back boundaries off Basil Thampi. However, Natarajan provided SRH the breakthrough, castling Tripathi. Nitish Rana (29, 20b, 3x4, 1x6) provided the innings the much-needed momentum. Rana hit two back-to-back boundaries off Rashid before launching him over long-on. Rashid sent back Gill before Vijay Shankar got rid of Rana.
The move to promote Russell did not pay dividends and it was left to an enterprising 58-run fifth-wicket stand between Dinesh Karthik (29, 14b, 2x4, 2x6) and Eoin Morgan (34, 23b, 3x4, 1x6) — the two plundered 52 off the last four overs — to give KKR a total of 163. Ferguson then took over.
Scoreboard:
Kolkata Knight Riders: S. Gill c Garg b R. Khan 36; R. Tripathi b Natarajan 23; N. Rana c Garg b V. Shankar 29; A. Russell c Shankar b Natarajan 9; E. Morgan c Pandey b Thampi 34; D. Karthik not out 29. Extras (LB-2, NB-1) 3
Total (For 5 wickets in 20 overs) 163
Fall of wickets: 1-48, 2-87, 3-88, 4-105, 5-163
Sunrisers Hyderabad bowling: S. Sharma 4-0-27-0, B Thampi 4-0-46-1, T. Natarajan 4-0-40-2, V. Shankar 4-0-20-1, R. Khan 4-0-28-1.
Sunrisers Hyderabad Innings: Jonny Bairstow c Russell b Chakravarthy 36; Kane Williamson c Rana b Ferguson 29; Priyam Garg b Ferguson 4; David Warner not out 47; Manish Pandey b Ferguson 6; Vijay Shankar c Gill b Cummins 7; Abdul Samad c Gill b Mavi 23; Rashid Khan not out 1. Extras: (LB-7 W-2 NB-1) 10
Total: (For 6 wkts in 20 overs) 163
Fall of Wickets: 1/57 2/70 3/70 4/82 5/109 6/146
Kolkta Knight Riders bowling: Pat Cummins 4-0-28-1, Shivam Mavi 3-0-34-1, Varun Chakravarthy 4-0-32-1, Andre Russell 2-0-29-0, Lockie Ferguson 4-0-15-3, Kuldeep Yadav 3-0-18-0.
