KKR chased down the target with two balls to spare.
Dubai : Shubman Gill hit his first fifty in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by six wickets here at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday.
KKR needed 116 to win in the 20 overs but SRH bowlers made sure the Eoin Morgan-led side had to fight it out for the win. SRH battled hard to try and get a win, but the target was always too small. KKR chased down the target with two balls to spare. The side now has 12 points.
Chasing a below-par total of 116, KKR got off to a bad start as the side lost star batsman Venkatesh Iyer in the fifth over.
It was a slow start for KKR as the side only managed to score 38 runs in the first seven over with Rahul Tripathi also back in the hut.
Meanwhile, Shubman Gill continued the risk-free batting and scored his first fifty in IPL 2021. At one stage KKR needed 32 in 30 balls with 8 wickets in hand.
However, Siddarth Kaul removed Gill in the 17th over and Jason Holder dismissed Nitish Rana in the 18th as KKR wobbled towards the end of the match.
In the end, skipper Morgan and Dinesh Karthik ensured KKR doesn’t suffer any hiccups as the side chased down the target with two balls to spare.
Earlier, a spirited bowling performance by KKR restricted SRH to 115/8. Except for skipper Kane Williamson and Abdul Samad, no SRH batsmen looked comfortable on the crease as KKR seized control over a must-win game.
For KKR Shivam Mavi, Tim Southee and Varun Chakravarthy picked two wickets each.
Brief Scores: SRH 115/8 (Kane Williamson 26, Abdul Samad 25; Tim Southee 2-26 ) vs KKR 119/4 (Shubman Gill 57, Nitish Rana 25; Jason Holder 2-32)
