The encounters between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL have been neither immensely exciting nor too remarkable, apart from a couple of occasions, but there have undoubtedly been matches that showcased individual brilliance in the midst of dropped catches and comical dismissals. From David Warner’s belligerence to Yusuf Pathan’s astonishing consistency – the IPL through the years has seen it all.
In the build-up to the mouth-watering Eliminator between Hyderabad and Kolkata in New Delhi on Wednesday, we take a look at the top five matches involving the two sides since 2013.
#1 MAYHEM AT THE EDEN GARDENS – 24 May ’14
Yusuf Pathan has always been the Knight to watch out for whenever the Kolkata franchise took on Sunrisers Hyderabad. He had already hit a couple of 30+ scores in the last two occasions, but it was for May 24, 2014 that he reserved his best.
Batting first at Eden Gardens, Sunrisers stumbled to a decent 160/7 amid a flurry of run-outs and madness in the middle. Gambhir’s men needed to topple that score in 15.2 overs in order to replace Chennai SuperKings at No. 2 and earn the benefit of the play-offs system. Pathan marched in at 55/2 and was instantly dropped by Srikkanth Anirudha off Karn Sharma. He was dropped again at 15 by Dale Steyn at deep square leg.
A seeker of opportunities, Pathan made most of those missed chances as he milked young Parvez Rasool for 22 runs before launching Steyn for 4, 6, 6, 4, 4, 2 in the 13th over. He completed his half-century in 15 deliveries and was finally dismissed for 72 seven balls later. By then, KKR were almost in sniffing distance of a victory with enough time in hand. Suryakumar Yadav levelled the scores with a six in the second ball of the 15th over and the formalities were done with when Bhuvneshwar Kumar followed it up with a wide delivery.
#2 THE GRAND CHOKE – 22 April ’15
Kolkata couldn’t reach the D/L target (Ctsy: BCCI)
The modus operandi for Hyderabad has been quite simple so far. In fact, most teams would have functioned in a similar fashion had they possessed a formidable opening pair of Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner. As if one of the two scoring a fifty wasn’t bad enough, both Dhawan and Warner unleashed their venom against Kolkata Knight Riders on a batting-friendly Vizag track in late April last season.
The duo put on a 130-run partnership in just 14 overs that witnessed Warner recording the highest score by a Sunrisers batsman in the IPL. They eventually set a target of 177 for the Knights, courtesy a couple of sixes by Naman Ojha towards the end.
The Knights began strongly, being well assisted by the Hyderabad fielders who squandered three chances in the first four overs. However, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Praveen Kumar exploited the wet conditions and choked the middle-order towards the end. 20 runs off the last three overs meant the Knights fell well short of the revised Duckworth-Louis target of 117 in 12 overs.
#3 SAMMY SEALS IT – 19 May ’13
Darren Sammy was at his best (Ctsy: BCCI)
The Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium at Hyderabad bore witness to a thriller in the form of a low-scoring match in the second encounter between Kolkata Knights Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2013 season.
Winning the toss, Gautam Gambhir decided to put runs on the board, but the plan fell through when the Knights lost Manvinder Bisla in the fifth over and the skipper in the eighth. Pacers Dale Steyn and Anand Rajan made merry until a late fightback from Yusuf Pathan lifted the away team to a respectable 130 at the end of 20 overs.
In reply, Sunrisers openers cruised to the 100-mark in quick time before Parthiv Patel fell in the 14th over. The next four overs yielded only 12 runs and 3 wickets, the strangler-in-chief being Sunil Narine who returned with figures of 4-1-11-0. With 20 required of 13 deliveries, Darren Sammy made short work of the chase with two lusty blows off Iqbal Abdulla as Hyderabad reached the target with 7 balls to spare.
[interaction id=”57449d62eac5f7343be273f8″]
#4 KNIGHTS MAKE IT FOUR IN FOUR – 18 May ’14
The match saw a last over finish (Ctsy: BCCI)
On an evening that saw a furious Gautam Gambhir swearing in rage after his unlucky dismissal and flinging his bat after reaching the dugout, the Knights kept their nerve and registered their fourth consecutive win of the season.
Opting to bat first on what skipper Shikhar Dhawan had assessed to be a “beautiful batting wicket”, the Sunrisers failed to solve the Narine mystery, the West Indian spinner sending down 13 dot balls in his allotted quota of 4 overs. Umesh Yadav too reaped the benefits of sticking to a plan, returning for 3/26. Even David Warner’s 18-ball-34 wasn’t enough for Sunrisers to go beyond 142 in 20 overs.
The loss of Gambhir in the second over barely had an effect on the Knights as Robin Uthappa and Manish Pandey kept the required run rate in check. A solid display by Yusuf Pathan at No. 4 overpowered the Hyderabad bowlers before a cool-headed Ryan ten Doeschate sealed the match with two deliveries remaining.
#5 WHEN MORGAN DID A TENDULKAR – 14 April ’13
Thisara Perera was made to take off his finger strapping (Ctsy: BCCI)
The first encounter between the Knights and Sunrisers in 2013 turned out to be an interesting affair on more grounds than one. Apart from the fact that concrete batting performances from the top four Men in Purple-and-Gold contributed in building a mighty score of 180, the match witnessed a Sachin Tendulkar moment from Eoin Morgan towards the end of the KKR innings.
In the 18th over, Morgan persuaded the bowler Thisara Perera to remove all bandages on the fingers of his bowling hand. He then smashed three boundaries and a six in the next four legal deliveries as a helpless Perera lamented the damage to his bowling figures.
After a healthy start, Sunrisers returned to self-destructive mode, losing three wickets in quick succession. They never quite recovered from the setback, and despite Perera’s insistence, Hyderabad could only manage 132 runs by the end of their innings. Newcomer Sachithra Senanayake impressed with 1/18, but the major fraction of the damage was done by Jacques Kallis (4-0-13-3).
