Manish Pandey and Jonny Bairstow’s half centuries fell short in the run chase against Kolkata.
Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad for 10 runs in their first match of the IPL 2021 season at MA. Chidambaram Stadium. Sunrisers won the toss and elected to bowl first. Nitish Rana opened the innings for Kolkata alongside Shubman Gill, the pair gave Kolkata a steady start to their innings, but the introduction of Rashid Khan provided Sunrisers with an important breakthrough in the form of Shubman Gill. But his partner Nitish Rana went on to score 80 of 56, which took the KKR total to 188. Rahul Tripathi gave Rana a much needed support in the middle scoring 53 of just 29 balls, hitting 5 fours and 2 sixes.
The experienced wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik added some quick runs to the board in the end by scoring 22 of just 9 deliveries. Rashid Khan had the best figures today in the bowling department for Sunrisers by taking 2 wickets and giving just 24 runs in his 4 overs spell. Wridhiman Saha and captain David Warner opened the innings for Sunrisers, but the pair failed to provide a strong start to their chase, where David Warner fell at 3, Saha lost his wicket at 7. But the introduction of Manish Pandey and Jonny Bairstow provided Sunrisers the most needed batting partnership, Manish Pandey’s 61 of 44 was the highest individual score for Sunrisers today,
whereas his partner Bairstow scored 55 of 40. But they fell short at the end, where Kkr bowlers restricted them to a total of 177. Prasidh Krishna was the best today for Kkr in the bowling unit, taking 2 wickets and giving 35 runs in his 4 overs spell. Tomorrow Rajasthan Royals will be facing Punjab Kings in their first match at Wankhede Stadium