Rahul Tripathi and Aiden Markram help Hyderabad cruise through third consecutive win

Rahul Tripathi, who was playing against his former IPL team, scored 71 runs off 37 balls to form the base of Hyderabad’s innings, with Aiden Markram also joining in the fun to finish things off. 

Sunrisers Hyderabad pacers give a hard time to Kolkata Knight Riders

Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss, and skipper Kane Williamson opted to bowl. Aaron Finch and Venkatesh Iyer decided to open for Kolkata after being sent to bat first.

However, Kolkata’s innings looked in jeopardy starting from the start as Hyderabad bowlers drew first blood in the second over itself. Marco Jansen sent Finch back to the pavilion for only 7 runs. 

On the other hand, T.Natarajan towered over Venkatesh Iyer and Sunil Narine in the same over to dismiss them for 6 runs each. With only the captain Shreyas Iyer left from the top order, it was upon Nitish Rana to stabilize Kolkata’s innings, and so he did.

Rana, who came in at no.5, stitched an important partnership with Shreyas Iyer to take Kolkata out of their 31/3 slump in the powerplay. Rana and Iyer formed a 39 runs partnership before the skipper was bowled by youngster Umran Malik on a picture-perfect 148.8 KPH yorker in the 10th over.

No. 6 Sheldon Jackson also fell prey to Umran Malik’s pace later in the 13th over. After Jackson’s dismissal, Andre Russell graced the pitch. Russell formed a quintessential partnership with Rana, and with the latter out in the 18th over, Russell hammered his way through with an unbeaten 49 off 25 balls. 

Russell’s innings with 4 fours and equal sixes helped Kolkata score 175 runs in 20 overs.

 Rahul Tripathi and Aiden Markram make easy work of Kolkata’s bowling

Sunrisers Hyderabad looked to repeat what Kolkata Knight Riders went through in the first innings as opener Abhishek Sharma was bowled by Pat Cummins in the second over for only 3 runs. Captain Kane Williamson also suffered the same fate in the last over of the power play after Andre Russell bowled him for 17 runs. However, Kolkata bowlers weren’t able to capitalize on the momentum. 

Rahul Tripathi, who played for Kolkata Knight Riders in 2020 and 2021, came in to bat at number three and showered fireworks at the Brabourne Stadium with an innings comprising 4 fours and 6 sixes. 

Tripathi found himself the perfect partner in Aiden Markram, and together they added 94 runs to the scoreboard. Venkatesh Iyer finally caught Tripathi in the 15th over at 71 runs off 37 balls. 

Meanwhile, the damage was done, and Markram, along with Pooran, guided Sunrisers to an easy 7 wickets victory with 13 balls to spare.

Sunrisers Hyderabad now looks in the form to take their winning streak to 4 consecutive wins against Punjab Kings on 17th April. At the same time, Kolkata Knight Riders will now look to return to the win column in their 7th match in this season of the IPL against Rajasthan Royals on 18th April.