IPL 2022, SRH vs KKR, Top Performances: Tripathi 71, Markram 68* help SRH to third win

IPL 2022, SRH vs KKR, Top Performances: Rahul Tripathi, Adien Markram 's 94-run stand, T Natarajan 3-37 and Andre Russell's 49* are the top performances.

Rahul Tripathi scores half century (71) and helps SRH win, SRH register third win (Images ©BCCI/IPL)

Brief Scores: SRH 176-3 (Tripathi 71, Markram 68*, Russell 2-20) beat KKR 175-8 (Rana 54, Russell 49*, Natarajan 3-37, Malik 2-27) by seven wickets

Player of the match: Rahul Tripathi 71 off 37 deliveries

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) faced Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the 25th game of Tata IPL 2022 at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai for two vital points on Friday.

Sunrisers skipper Kane Williamson won the toss and opted to field. SRH spinner Washington Sundar couldn’t play the game due to a hand injury; all-rounder Jagadeesha Suchith was included in place of Sundar.

Sunrisers steamrolled KKR by seven wickets

KKR made many changes in their line-up for this game, they omitted opener Ajinkya Rahane, wicketkeeper batter Sam Billings and Rasikh Salam to get Australian opener Aaron Finch, wicketkeeper Sheldon Jackson and Aman Khan in the eleven.

As Williamson put KKR to bat, the latter’s openers - Venkatesh Iyer and Aaron Finch - succumbed early in the innings. Pinch hitter Sunil Narine failed to make much impact on the game. KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer and Nitish Rana bailed out their side by adding 39 runs for the fourth wicket. Also, quickfire finishing provided by Andre Russell helped KKR to post a defendable total of 175 runs in 20 overs.

Both SRH openers – Abhishek Sharma and Williamson – were back in the hut within the powerplay overs to leave their side at 39-2 in 5.2 overs. But a brilliant 94-run stand in just 9 overs between Rahul Tripathi and Aiden Markram paved the way for an eventual SRH victory by seven wickets.

Let’s scan the top three performances from the game between SRH and KKR, IPL 2022:

Andre Russell's 49* gave KKR a respectable total, Russell took 2-20 in bowling (Images ©BCCI/IPL)

Andre Russell again finished innings on high

Andre Russell came to bat in the middle when KKR were five down for 103 in 13 overs. Nitish Rana was already en route to complete his first fifty in this season of IPL when Russell joined hands with him.

Russell started with a huge six over the deep mid-wicket boundary. Young pacer Umran Malik checked the hitting of Russell. However, Russell continued to smack other bowlers out of the park. He smoked one six and two fours in an over of pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Even if Russell saw three wickets fall in front of him, he finished the innings on a high with two sixes and one four off the last three balls. Russell remained unbeaten on 49 off 25 deliveries which consisted of four boundaries and four sixes.

Russell also picked the vital wicket of SRH skipper Kane Williamson early in the innings when the batter was looking in good touch. Also, he sent back Rahul Tripathi to the dugout, who played a phenomenal knock of 71 in this game. Russell’s finishing knock and two wickets went in vain, as Sunrisers defeated KKR by seven wickets due to spectacular knocks of Tripathi and Markram.

Read More: IPL 2022, SRH vs GT, Top Performances: Williamson, Pooran help SRH chase 162; GT drop to 5th place

T Natarajan's 3-37 helps SRH beat KKR, SRH register third win (Images ©BCCI/IPL)

Thangarasu Natarajan bagged three to restrain KKR batters

On a favourable pitch for batting, KKR lost the wicket of opener Aaron Finch in the second over of the innings. However, pacer Thangarasu Natarajan broke the back of KKR by taking two wickets in the fifth over of the innings. He uprooted the stumps of second opener Venkatesh Iyer with a beautiful in-swinging delivery. Next batter Sunil Narine launched a huge six off the first delivery he played, though Natarajan sent Narine back to the hut on the next delivery.

Also, when Nitish Rana completed his first fifty in this season of IPL and was looking dangerous for Sunrisers, Natarajan bagged his wicket. In his quota of four overs, he conceded only 37 runs on a batting-friendly pitch of Brabourne Stadium.

Read More: IPL 2022, KKR vs DC, Top Performances: Shaw 51, Warner 61, Kuldeep’s 4-35 help DC move to 6th place

Markram, Tripathi added 94 runs for 3rd wicket, SRH move to 7th place (Images ©BCCI/IPL)

Rahul Tripathi and Aiden Markram turned the match on its head

After losing two wickets in the first six powerplay overs, while chasing a target of 176 runs, Sunrisers batters, Rahul Tripathi and Aiden Markam, stitched a whirlwind partnership of 94 runs for the third wicket to help their side win the match.

Especially, Tripathi went into an attacking mode from the start of the innings. The 31-year-old batter pulled a humongous six over the backward square leg boundary off medium-pacer Russell. He smashed one six and a boundary off debutant Aman Khan in the next over.

Though Tripathi attacked the spinners brutally in the next few overs to switch the direction of the game completely. He clubbed two monumental sixes and a boundary off leggie Varun Chakravarthy. He completed his fifty off just 21 balls.

After Tripathi completed his half-century, Markram freed his hands and pummelled three consecutive boundaries off speedster Umesh Yadav. After the wicket of Tripathi, Markram completed his fifty off 31 deliveries. Tripathi made 71 runs off just 37 deliveries with the help of four boundaries and six elephantine sixes. Markram launched two sixes and a boundary off pacer Pat Cummins to help his side to cross the finishing line. Markram remained unbeaten on 68 off 36 deliveries in the end.

IPL 2022 Points Table

IPL 2022 Points Table

What’s to come

There will be two games scheduled on April 16. Mumbai Indians, who have lost five straight games in this season of IPL, will be up against Lucknow Super Giants at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai in the first game which will begin at 15:30 hours IST.

The second game will be between Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The game is scheduled to begin at 19:30 hours IST.

Here are some of the top twitter reactions from SRH vs KKR game, IPL 2022:

Read More: IPL 2022, SRH vs CSK, Top Performances: Sundar, Natarajan strangle CSK; Abhishek's 75 helps SRH win