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IPL 2021: Kolkata Knight Riders beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 10 runs

The trend continues with Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner winning the toss and opting to bowl first.

It is all coming thick and fast and we are already into the third day of this season’s IPL. After contrasting results over the first two days, two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders go up against 2016 winners Sunrisers Hyderabad in Chennai today.

As far as head-to-heads go, they have faced each other 19 times with KKR winning 12 of those games, and Hyderabad seven. In the previous edition held in the UAE, KKR had won by seven wickets while the second match was tied before KKR won by the Super Over.

The trend continues with Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner winning the toss and opting to bowl first.

9:39pm: Kolkata Knight Riders notch 10-run win over Hyderabad

The Kolkata Knight Riders carve out a 10-run victory in the end at the Chepauk in Chennai. The Sunrisers Hyderabad’s pursuit of 188 was nipped in the bud after they had lost their openers skipper David Warner and Wriddhiman Saha. Manish Pandey (61 not out) and Jonny Bairstow (55) did admirably well to resuscitate them from that situation and they almost made a fist of it. Mohammad Nabi, Vijay Shankar and Abdul Samad all came up with crucial cameos but they just about fell short, finishing up at 177-5.

The Kolkata Knight Riders meet reigning champions Mumbai Indians in the next game on Tuesday, while the Sunrisers Hyderabad go up against the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Wednesday. Both the matches are in Chennai.

9:13pm: Sunrisers Hyderabad lose Bairstow at crucial juncture

The Sunrisers Hyderabad lose Jonny Bairstow at a crucial juncture in their chase of 188. The Englishman is caught by Nitish Rana off Pat Cummins after making a 40-ball 55, studded with five boundaries and three sixes. It is his sixth fifty in the IPL and he and Manish Pandey stitched together a crucial stand of 92. The Sunrisers Hyderabad are 118 for three in 15 overs and they have managed to score 41 in the last five overs with a run rate of 8.20. They need 70 runs from 30 deliveries and the required run rate has climbed to 14.00. Their current run rate is 7.86 with Pandey on 46 from 34 balls and Mohammad Nabi on five.

8:51pm: Bairstow, Pandey rebuild for Sunrisers Hyderabad

Jonny Bairstow and Manish Pandey have weathered that early storm and have begun repairing the damage. But it isn’t over yet as they are still well behind in the chase as the required run rate has gone up. The Sunrisers Hyderabad have reached 77 for two in the first 10 overs. Bairstow is on 41 from 28 deliveries, while Pandey has made 26 from 22 balls.

8:30pm: Sunrisers Hyderabad have work to do after twin blows

Sunrisers Hyderabad are well behind the eight-ball in their pursuit of 188 after Prasidh Krishna and left-arm spinner Shakib Hasan combining to polish off the openers. The Sunrisers Hyderabad lost both the wickets for 10 and have since reached 35 for two after the powerplay. Manish Pandey and England’s Jonny Bairstow, who with scores of 94 and 124 was named Player of the Series during the ODI series against India, have work to do to bring the Sunrisers Hyderabad back into the reckoning after those twin blows from the Kolkata Knight Riders

7:50pm: Hyderabad manage to rein in Kolkata to 187

The Sunrisers Hyderabad bowling attack manage to rein in an ominous looking Kolkata Knight Riders who were racing away to a mammoth total. The Kolkata Knight Riders lose a flurry of wickets, including those of Rahul Tripathi and dangerman Andre Russell, while opener Nitish Rana falls short in his pursuit of a maiden hundred in the IPL. Skipper Eoin Morgan too falls cheaply as they end up with much lesser than they would have hoped for. The Afghanistan pair of leg spinner Rashid Khan and off-spinner Mohammad Nabi pick up two wickets each, while T Natarajan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar take one apiece. Sunrisers Hyderabad will be happy to chase the 187 down and it is now up to the KKR bowlers to make a fist of it. Nonetheless, Rana’s 80 is the centrepiece of KKR’s innings and his last six knocks in the IPL reads 0 (1), 81 (53), 0 (1), 87 (61), 0 (1), 80 (56), while Dinesh Karthik knocks a neat cameo of 22 not out in nine balls.

7:21pm: Kolkata Knight Riders in sight of a big total

The Kolkata Knight Riders looking good for a big total here against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. After reaching 103 in 11.3 overs with Nitish Rana slog-sweeping off-spinner Mohammad Nabi over midwicket for a six, he and Rahul Tripathi are going great guns. Tripathi has reached his sixth half-century in the IPL, while a maiden century is there for the taking for Rana. Rana is on 77, while Tripathi is on 53 as KKR reach 145 for one in 15 overs.

6:57pm: Kolkata Knight Riders build on the bright start

They may have lost opener Shubman Gill but the Kolkata Knight Riders have not let it slip up and have carried on from that bright start. Rahul Tripathi has wasted little time to get off the blocks after joining the other opener Nitish Rana at the crease. Tripathi has already made 18 from 10 balls with a four and a six, while Rana has coasted to his 13th half-century in the IPL, with his 50 coming off 37 deliveries and studded with eight boundaries and a six. The pair have already strung together 30-odd runs for the second wicket as KKR reach 83 for one in the opening 10 overs. They are in a great position to launch an assault over the next segment.

6:44pm: Rashid Khan prises out Gill after powerplay

It was a decent powerplay for the Kolkata Knight Riders with the openers Nitish Rana and Shubman Gill racking up 50 in the opening six overs. Left-hander Rana has raced away to a 25-ball 36 with the help of eight boundaries, while Gill has made 14 from 11 balls with a lone boundary and a beautiful straight six off T Natarajan. If the KKR openers can continue in the same vein and the middle-order and the lower half can build on it, they could be in for a competitive total. But, just as we speak, the Sunrisers Hyderabad have made the inroad. Skipper Warner turns to Rashid Khan just after the powerplay and the Afghan leg spinner has castled Gill.

6:18pm: IPL 2021: Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan makes his KKR debut

Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Sing makes his debut for the Kolkata Knight Riders. Captain Eoin Morgan will be banking on the 40-year-old, who knows this surface better than anyone else, as he previously played for the Chennai Super Kings.

Just a heads up on this contest. This is also an interesting match-up between Morgan and Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Trevor Bayliss after the English-Australian pair had plotted England’s renaissance in the ODI format which culminated in the 2019 World Cup triumph on home soil.

The Kolkata Knight Riders have lost seven of their nine matches at this venue, but one of their two victories was in the 2012 final against the Chennai Super Kings. The Sunrisers Hyderabad, meanwhile, have lost all three of their encounters here.

The overseas players for the Kolkata Knight Riders are captain Eoin Morgan, Andre Russell, Pat Cummins and Shakib Al Hasan. The Sunrisers Hyderabad have gone in with skipper David Warner, Jonny Bairstow and the Afghanistan duo of Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi.

Playing XI:

Kolkata Knight Riders: Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan (C), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Andre Russell, Shakib Al Hasan, Pat Cummins, Harbhajan Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (C), Jonny Bairstow, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Manish Pandey, Vijay Shankar, Abdul Samad, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Sandeep Sharma.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (C), Jonny Bairstow, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Manish Pandey, Vijay Shankar, Abdul Samad, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Sandeep Sharma.