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Xtra Time Web Desk: New Zealander Lockie Ferguson had the debut of the season as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) managed to pull off a win in Super Over against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Match 35 of IPL 2020 at Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Sunday. It was one of the most chaotic games of the 2020 IPL season. A seesawing contest with shifts in momentum throughout, both sides appeared certain to win at separate points in the latter stages. But it took a Super Over to split the two after SRH fell one short of the 18 needed off the final over to claim victory.

Lockie Ferguson was undoubtedly the star of the match, claiming (combined) figures of 5/17 to single-handedly wrestle the game back into KKR’s favour. The win for Eoin Morgan’s men snaps a two-game losing streak and puts them two games clear in the playoff spots.

Bowling in Super Over, Ferguson bowled David Warner and Abdul Samad in his first three deliveries to set KKR a winning target of 3 runs. KKR Captain Eoin Morgan and his deputy Dinesh Karthik , who shared a brilliant 58 runs partnership in the match had no problem in taking the team home.

SRH Captain David Warner and Abdul Samad put on 37 runs in 22 balls to raise hopes of a win, after being reduced to 109/5 in 15.2 overs, chasing 164 runs to win. But Samad hammered 23 runs in 15 balls, before being dismissed by Shivam Mavi, to help SRH reach closer to the target. Warner scored 47 in 33 balls to push the game to a tie. 

Earlier KKR captain Eoin Morgan and former captain Dinesh Karthik stitched a 58-run partnership in the end to take their total to 163/5 in 20 overs.

A relieved KKR Captain Eoin Morgan hailed Lockie Ferguson's performance at the end of the match.

"They're nice to be part of, get a glimpse into what the guys are about. For Lockie to come in and perform in both phases was outstanding. We've been sort of striving to get wins out of the last couple of games, didn't happen against Mumbai; today we were competitive. It'll all depend on a lot of match-ups, what we think are the right dynamics at the time," said Morgan at the post match presentation ceremony.

A dejected looking Sunrisers Hyderabad Captain David Warner blamed his bowlers for leaking too many runs in the middle. According to Warner,"I don't know where to start. At the end of the day, we probably leaked a few too many in the middle overs and at the back end. For us it's about finishing games and we've failed the last 2-3 occasions. Not at all in two minds about bowling first. I thought this was a nice wicket that wouldn't change and to be fair it didn't. We lost wickets at crucial times again.”