SRH vs KKR: Who won yesterday's match in IPL 2023?

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) beat the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by five runs in yesterday’s 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

Batting first after winning the toss, Kolkata posted 171/9. In response, Hyderabad seemed to be cruising at 124/4 after 14 overs. However, they stumbled in inexplicable fashion to finish on 166/8.

Chasing 172, SRH lost their openers cheaply. Mayank Agarwal (18) cut a short ball from Harshit Rana for a maximum in the third over. The pacer, however, bounced him out with a well-directed short ball. Abhishek Sharma (9) then skied a flick off Shardul Thakur towards deep backward square. Andre Russell pulled off a good catch, diving forward.

In the last over of the powerplay, Rahul Tripathi (20 off 9) took on Russell and smacked him for 4, 6, 4. However, the Hyderabad batter’s adrenaline got the better of him as he scooped the KKR pacer straight to a fielder in the deep.

Harry Brook’s forgettable IPL 2023 campaign got worse. He too attempted a scoop against Anukul Roy and was trapped lbw for a duck, with KKR taking a smart review to get the decision in their favor.

SRH skipper Aiden Markram (41 off 40) and Heinrich Klaasen (36 off 20) added 70 for the fifth wicket to put their team on course for a win. While Markram was content playing anchor, Klaasen continued batting in aggressive fashion. He took on Anukul in the 11th over and whacked him for consecutive sixes. Another maximum followed off Rana’s bowling.

Just when Hyderabad seemed to be in control of things, Klaasen miscued a big hit off Thakur to deep midwicket. Markram also fell soon after. He attempted a tennis-like pull off a bouncer from Vaibhav Arora, but only managed to toe-end the stroke to long-off.

Hyderabad needed 26 off the last three overs but completely lost their way as Marco Jansen (1) was caught behind off Arora, while Abdul Samad (21 off 18) fell to Varun Chakaravarthy in the last over. SRH needed seven off the last three balls, but managed only one to choke in the chase.

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SRH restrict KKR to 171/9

Left-armers Jansen and T Natarajan claimed two wickets each as Hyderabad did a good job of restricting Kolkata to 171/9.

Kolkata won the toss and opted to bat first, but got off to a poor start as Jansen dismissed Rahmanullah Gurbaz (0) and Venkatesh Iyer (7) in the second over of the innings. Gurbaz was caught at mid-on as he top-edged a flick, while Iyer gloved a bouncer to the keeper.

Jason Roy looked good for his 20 but fell to Kartik Tyagi, attempting a cross-batted heave. Skipper Nitish Rana (42 off 31) and Rinku Singh (46 off 35) gave some substance to the Kolkata innings, adding 61 for the fourth wicket. The KKR captain took on Tyagi in the 10th over, slamming him for a four and two sixes off consecutive deliveries.

It needed a brilliant catch by Markram off his own bowling to end the threatening stand. Rana skied a slog and Markram covered a lot of ground before putting in a dive to complete a spectacular fielding effort.

Russell (24 off 15) played a nice cameo before top-edging a heave off Mayank Markande. Sunil Narine (1) fell cheaply again, chipping a slower ball from Bhuvneshwar Kumar towards extra cover. Thakur (8) then perished to Natarajan in an attempt to up the ante.

Rinku’s defiance ended in the last over as he lofted a full toss from Natarajan to deep midwicket, where Samad took an excellent diving catch. Natarajan bowled a fine last over, conceding only three runs.

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SRH vs KKR: Who won Player of the Match in yesterday's IPL 2023 match?

Rinku and Rana scored fine 40s for KKR. With the ball, Arora and Thakur picked up two wickets each. Russell chipped in with a good all-round performance. Chakaravarthy tied SRH batters down with figures of 1/20.

For SRH, Jansen and Natarajan claimed two wickets each. Skipper Markram top-scored in the chase with 41, while Klaasen contributed 36.

Chakaravarthy was named the Player of the Match for his economical spell.