Kolkata: English batsman Harry Brook’s first century of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 and captain Aiden Markram’s half-century helped Sunrisers Hyderabad register a 23-run win over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) here on Friday. With Brook’s unbeaten 100 and Markram’s 50, Sunrisers Hyderabad scored a mammoth score of 228 for four. Brook hit 12 fours and three sixes in 55 balls.
Despite captain Nitish Rana’s 75 runs and Rinku Singh’s unbeaten 58 (31 balls, four fours, four sixes), who won the team by hitting five sixes in the last match, KKR’s team was 205 for seven in the stipulated 20 overs. Could only make Sunrisers Hyderabad miss many chances of catching during the fielding, otherwise, KKR’s team would not have reached this score. For that, Marco Jansen and Mayank Markandey took two wickets each.
Rana (41 balls, five fours, six sixes) tore the balls of Umran Malik (one wicket for 36 runs in two overs) in the sixth over. He scored 28 runs in this over with four fours and two sixes, due to which the team’s score was 62 for three in the powerplay. KKR lost the wicket of Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the very first over, who could not even open the account. This over of Bhuvneshwar Kumar was maiden. Then Jansen gave a double blow to KKR in the fourth over.
After dismissing Venkatesh Iyer (10 runs) in his second over, Yansen did not allow Sunil Narine to open the account on the next ball. Opener N Jagadeesan hit T Natarajan for a four and a six in the fifth over. Then Rana scored 28 runs in Malik’s first over.
Jagdishan (36 runs) was made his victim by Markandeya, due to which the partnership of 62 runs in 29 balls between him and the captain was also broken. Andre Russell could not complete his third over during the bowling due to a hamstring strain but came out to bat, although he was dismissed by Markandeya after playing six balls.
Natarajan ended Rana’s 41-ball innings in the 17th over. This ended the 69-run partnership in 39 balls between the captain and Rinku. Earlier, Brook arrived in the IPL in style, hitting four fours and two sixes in the first three overs as Sunrisers Hyderabad made their best start to the season. Brook, who was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 13.25 crore, could only manage 29 runs in the first three matches. But he finally found the rhythm. Brook took full advantage of the lifeline he got on 45 and reached 50 off 32 balls.
Leg-spinner Suyyash Sharma had missed an easy chance to catch him on his own ball. When Brook was 61, he overturned the decision of being caught behind Lockie Ferguson. He hit five fours in the same over of this New Zealand fast bowler. Brook completed his hundred in the last over by taking a single off Umesh Yadav. After winning the toss and electing to bowl, KKR’s fielding let them down as KKR skipper Aiden Markram also scored a 26-ball 50. Brook and Markram together added 72 runs in 47 balls.
After Markram’s dismissal, young left-handed batsman Abhishek Sharma (32 runs, 17 balls) played well with Brooke. Both of them increased the difficulty of KKR by adding 72 runs in 33 balls. Heinrich Klaasen played a useful inning of 16 not out in six balls. Barring Sunil Narine (28 runs in four overs) and Andre Russell (3/22 in 2.1 overs), none of the KKR bowlers could impress. Russell could not complete him over due to a hamstring strain. The day belonged entirely to Brook, who repeated his Pakistan Super League success with the bat here.
He scored 264 runs in eight innings in this league. Brook has scored 809 runs in 10 innings in Tests with four centuries and three half-centuries. Brook scored quickly against the fast bowlers but had some trouble against the spinners. He scored 14-14 runs in the opening overs of Umesh Yadav and Ferguson. When the score was 43 for no loss in three overs, Sunil Narine bowled tightly in the fourth over after which Russell struck twice.
The Jamaican bowler, bowling for the first time this season, dismissed Mayank Agarwal (09 runs) but after that, he got a muscle strain. He managed to finish the over and dismissed the in-form Rahul Tripathi on the last ball of the over. Then Brooke and Markram batted intelligently, especially against Narine. The skipper provided full support to Brooke, who put on an entertaining partnership of 72 runs in just 47 balls.
