Warner powers Sunrisers to win

David Warner just missed out on his third IPL century but his innings of 91 helped Sunrisers Hyderabad trump Kolkata Knight Riders for their second win this season.

Helped by a 130-run partnership with Shikhar Dhawan for the first wicket, Warner ensured Kolkata would be chasing a challenging 177 before rain threatened to play in the coastal city of Visakhapatnam.

The match was reduced to 12-overs-a-side following a longish break and needing 118 to win the game, the Knight Riders were choked by a string of yorkers from Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Praveen Kumar in the final three overs.

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Sunrisers kept things tight in the field late on // BCCI

On a hot, energy-sapping afternoon, Kolkata captain Gautam Gambhir won the toss and inserted their opposition, going against conventional wisdom for games that start in the afternoon.

The Knight Riders brought in Sydney Sixers offspinner Johan Botha for Ryan ten Doeschate while the Sunrisers made two changes to their team, selecting Sixers allrounder Moises Henriques for Eoin Morgan and Bipul Sharma for Ashish Reddy. 

Warner exhibited aggression with traces of caution whenever necessary during his innings, while Dhawan went the other way, happy to turn the strike over to his captain while picking up the odd boundary when the opportunity presented itself. 

As a result, the difference in their two innings was stark. When Warner completed his half-century, in the 10th over, Dhawan was on just 20. 

Gambhir had earlier opted to try out his spinners during the Powerplay - four of those six overs were bowled by slower bowlers - but the tactic didn’t work and Hyderabad reached 0-43 at the end of six. 

Umesh Yadav had sent Warner back cheaply in the 2015 World Cup semi-final but it was all Warner in this game, reaching his half-century off the Indian speedster with an upper-cut that went for a six, his second of the innings.

He needed 36 deliveries to get to his landmark and would go on to dispatch a couple of more sixes by the time his innings came to an end.

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Warner goes for a switch hit during his innings // BCCI

Sunil Narine was clubbed over long-on for a six in the 11th over and Warner followed it up with a switch-hit for four and a slog sweep that went all the way off Piyush Chawla. And then he took hold of a shortish delivery from Narine and deposited it into the stands.

Morne Morkel finally broke through, the ball after Warner had carved him for a boundary. The left-hander attempted a pull the next delivery but Morkel’s extra bounce got the better of him and he top edged it for the wicketkeeper to take a skier. 

A 130-run stand for the first wicket had been ended, and Warner had contributed 91 of them. 

Morkel struck again in his next over when Ravi Bopara drove one straight to into the hands of the short-cover fielder, while Dhawan was dismissed by Andre Russell as he looked to clear the long-on fence in the 19th over. 

Dhawan had earlier brought up his 50 from 43 deliveries. 

Yadav went for 13 in the final over of the innings, a necessary boost at the end after Hyderabad had been able to score just 34 from the 28 deliveries leading up to the 20th over. Henriques faced only five balls and remained unbeaten on seven.

The rain came during the break and prevented play for about 100 minutes, which meant the target was reduced to 118 in 12 overs.

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Rain threatened the match in Visakhapatnam // BCCI

Needing an aggressive start, Gambhir looked to hit out at almost everything and lost his timing as a result. He was dropped at third man off the bowling of Dale Steyn but in the following over, his attempted slog to a fullish ball found its way back on to the stumps.

At the other end, Robin Uthappa's slow start to the tournament could have been made even worse had KL Rahul held on to a straightforward chance at second slip. He dropped it, Steyn was the bowler at the receiving end again and Uthappa went on to hit a couple of sixes in the Powerplay, which had been reduced to four overs.

The introduction of leg-spinner Karn Sharma at the end of the Powerplay overs offered Hyderabad some respite. The lack of pace on the ball and the fact that Karn managed to find it easy enough to grip the ball despite all the rain brought the rate down with a five-run over.

Henriques then struck in his very first over of the season, getting Uthappa to flick one to short fine-leg but not before Manish Pandey had swatted one over long-on for six. Pandey followed it up with a couple of fours off Steyn, who was brought on to try and unsettle the dangerous Russell.

The turning point of the game came in an eight-ball period between the ninth and the tenth overs.

Russell’s previous stint at the crease had seen him blast a match-winning 66 and he started well here with a couple of sixes off Bipul Sharma in the eighth over. 

He then took on Bopara and sent him for a four, leaving the Knight Riders to get just 38 from 20 balls, an achievable task with wickets in hand.

What followed was a stunning display of yorker-length bowling from the Sunrisers that left their opposition without answers. Bopara had Russell caught at long-on and then Bhuvneshwar conceded just five singles from the 10th over. 

Praveen followed it up with an equally canny effort in the penultimate over to leave the Knight Riders needing 25 from the final over as Pandey and Yusuf Pathan tried in vain to get under the full deliveries.

With the momentum having shifted so dramatically in the favour of Hyderabad, Kolkata were left with too much to do in too little time and they fell 16 short.