IPL 2023: After bad start, skipper Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh help KKR reach 171 against SRH
May 04, 2023
Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], May 4 : Nitish Rana's 42 and Rinku Singh's 46 helped Kolkata Knight Riders reach a respectable total of 171/9 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday.
Nitish Rana scored 42 of 31 balls while Rinku Singh smashed 46 in 35 balls.
Choose to bat first, KKR lost early wickets. In the 2nd over, Marco Jansen took two wickets, dismissing Rahmanullah Gurbaz on a duck and KKR's key batter Venkatesh Iyer at 7 off 4 balls. KKR was reduced to 16/2 in two overs.
Kolkata lost their third wicket in the 5th over when Kartik Tyagi got the scalp of Jason Roy (20) after he got a top edge and Mayank Agarwal took a simple catch on a third man. KKR was 35/3 in 4.4 overs.
After the end of the powerplay, Kolkata were at 49/3.
KKR reached to 50 runs mark in 6.1 overs, with Nitish Rana (12*) and Rinku Singh (6*) at the crease.
Nitish and Rinku Singh steered the innings as they brought a 50-run partnership off 30 balls.
Nitish in the 10th over started to accelerate the run rate. He hit two sixes and one four on Kartik Tyagi's deliveries, taking 17 runs in the over.
KKR was 90/3 in 10 overs, with Nitish (40*) and Rinku (17*) unbeaten.
Nitish Rana became the target of Aiden Markram's bowl. He scored 42 off 31 balls. KKR was at 96/4 in 11.2 overs. Kolkata reached to 100-run mark in 11.5 overs.
Coming to the crease, Russell seemed in his natural form hitting two maximums and one four, but his batting did not last long as he got out in Markande's bowling. He scored 24 off 15 balls. KKR was at 127/5 in 14.2 overs.
All-rounder Sunil Narine was also dismissed cheaply at one run as Bhuvneshwar Kumar took his wicket in the 16th over. KKR was 130/6 in 15.3 overs.
Kolkata reached to 150 runs mark in 17.2 overs but lost the wicket in the next ball. Natarajan got the wicket of Shardul Thakur at 8 off 6 balls. KKR sunk to 151/7 in 17.3 overs.
In the last over, Kolkata lost two consecutive scalps as Natarajan dismissed Rinku Singh at 46 off 35 balls and Harshit Rana was run out for a duck.
KKR posted 171/9 in 20 overs.
Brief scores: Kolkata Knight Riders: 171/9 (Rinku Singh 46, Nitish Rana 42, T Natarajan 2/30) vs Sunrisers Hyderabad.
