SRH post 226 after strong start at Eden Gardens
Sunrisers Hyderabad finished on 226 for 8 after being asked to bat first by Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens. It was a high-scoring surface, with the ball coming nicely onto the bat and little help for the bowlers early on.
Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma set the tone in the powerplay with aggressive strokeplay. Boundaries came regularly, and KKR struggled to contain the flow of runs. Abhishek looked set for a bigger score but fell for 48 off 21 after a close catch was referred upstairs. The third umpire ruled it out, though the batter was not pleased and showed his frustration before leaving.
KKR fight back through middle overs
Kolkata responded well after the early damage. Blessing Muzarabani turned the innings with key wickets, finishing with four scalps. He removed both set batters and broke the momentum at a crucial stage.
Anukul Roy and Varun Chakravarthy supported him by keeping things tight and picking up wickets. For a brief period, KKR managed to slow the scoring and bring the game back into balance.
Late surge lifts SRH past 220
SRH regained control in the final overs. Heinrich Klaasen held the innings together and reached a half-century, while Nitish Reddy added important runs in support.
The last five overs produced 58 runs, exposing KKR’s issues at the death again. Despite taking wickets, they could not stop the flow of runs on a batting-friendly pitch.
This is the same ground where a 33-ball century was scored in a T20 World Cup semi-final, and the conditions remain similar. Chasing 227 will be challenging but not out of reach, especially with dew expected later. The question now is simple: can KKR chase?
Teams –
Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan(w/c), Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Salil Arora, Harsh Dubey, Shivang Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, David Payne
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Ajinkya Rahane(c), Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi(w), Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi, Blessing Muzarabani