Internet Desk: Gautam Gambhir carried on his good form with the bat as he scored a brilliant knock of 90(60) to guide Knight Riders to 8 wickets victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad in a IPL match at Rajiv Gandhi International stadium in Hyderabad. The two time champions KKR comfortably chased the target, scoring 143/2 with 10 balls to spare. Gambhir’s innings included 13 hits to the fence and a six. The left hander also shared a match winning partnership of 92 runs with Robin Uthappa for the first wicket off only 75 balls. Uthappa scored 38 runs off 34 balls. The win takes the Knight Riders to the top of the IPL table with 4 points from 3 matches.
Both Gambhir and Uthappa looked determined to give the team a solid start, following the loss against Mumbai Indians in last match at Eden Gardens. Robin was the more aggressive among the two as he scored an excellent cover drive off Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He followed it up with an exquisite straight drive to the fence.
Gambhir who scored a brilliant 64 runs against Mumbai Indians continued from where he left. He pulled Barinder Saran to score his first boundary and followed it up with another similar hit to the fence.
Robin hit the first six flicking Henriques into the stands at square leg. Knight Riders was 72/0 after 10 overs.
The Knight Riders captain went from strength to strength as he picked three consecutive boundaries off Karn Sharma. He reached his fifty off only 41 balls, pushing Reddy for a single.
Reddy gave Sunrisers the first breakthrough as he got Uthappa plumbed in front of the stumps. The KKR opener scored 38 runs off 34 balls that included 3 fours and a six. Knight Riders was on 92/1.
Mustafizur Rahman, who was brought inside the power play bowled well. The Bangladesh sensation bowled the delivery of the match as he yorked Andre Russell for 2 runs. Knight Riders was 97/2 after 13.4 overs.
Gambhir was extremely lethal against Barinder Saran as he hit him for consecutive boundaries. Mustafizur who had a decent spell went for a four and a six by Gambhir in his last over.
Earlier a gutsy knock from Eoin Morgan, well supported by Naman Ojha helped Sunrisers Hyderabad post 142/7 against Kolkata Knight Riders. Morgan scored 51 runs off 43 balls while Ojha contributed 37 runs. The both put on a partnership of 67 runs for the fifth wicket to see SRH post a decent total. Umesh Yadav was the pick of the bowlers for Knight Riders taking 3 wickets for 28 runs. Morkel also chipped with two wickets.
The Sunrisers innings started with a drama as captain David Warner got a life early on his innings as he was caught by Chawla off Morkel only to see the umpire calling it a no ball. Warner scored only 2 runs.
The South African pacer did give Knight Riders the first breakthrough getting rid of Shikhar Dhawan caught by Uthappa for 6. Umesh Yadav, who shared the new ball with Morkel gave the Knights a double breakthrough. The Baroda speedster got rid of dangerous David Warner caught at short cover by Suryakumar Yadav for 13. He followed it up by picking Moises Henriques leg before for 6 runs. Sunrisers were struggling at 36/3 after the powerplay.
Andre Russell brought into the attack after the power play got rid of Deepak Hooda. Hooda departed after giving a simple catch to Umesh Yadav standing at long on for 6. Sunrisers were 50/4. At halfway stage Sunrisers could only manage 52/4.
Morgan who looked to play in opened his arms against Narine as he hit him for consecutive boundaries over the covers. Piyush Chawla, who came in to bowl in the 14th over went for 13 runs in his first over.
Naman Ojha who looked good hit the first six of the innings off Narine. He swept the mystery spinner into the stands at square leg.
He followed it up with another six over point off Morkel to bring up the fifty partnership between them. Morgan got his first six sending Shakib over long off.
Morkal gave a much needed breakthrough as he got rid of Naman Ojha for 37 runs. The wicketkeeper batsman played his part scoring the runs at a brisk rate of only 28 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes.
Brilliant presence of mind from Andre Russell and Piyush Chawla Both Ojha and Morgan put on 67 runs for the 5thwicket. SRH was 117/5.
Morgan brought up his fifty with a huge six over long leg off Morkel. He reached his half century in 41 balls with three hits to the fence and 2 towering sixes.
The England T20I captain soon departed giving a simple catch to Shakib at long on off Umesh. He scored 51 runs. The score was 128/6.
Karn Sharma who came in next hit a six off the last ball of Shakib. Ashish Reddy ran himself out towards the end of the innings.
Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner chose to bat in their first home game of the season, against Kolkata Knight Riders.
The Knight Riders made four changes to the squad that played against Mumbai Indians at Eden Gardens.
Sunil Narine got his first match in IPL 9. He replaced Kuldeep Yadav while injured John Hastings made way for Morkel. Brad Hogg also had to sit out due to food poisoning. Shakib al Hasan replaced him.Umesh Yadav came in for Colin Munro.
Sunrisers, also were forced into a change because Ashish Nehra was sidelined with a groin injury, brought in left-arm seamer Barinder Sran, a like-for-like replacement.