Harshit Rana clinched the victory for KKR in IPL 2024© BCCI
It was a phenomenal performance from young fast bowler Harshit Rana as he kept his calm and defended 13 runs in the final over to clinch the victory for Kolkata Knight Riders during the IPL 2024 match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday. Rana was given the responsibility to bowl the final over of the match with Heinrich Klaasen in devastating form and the start was far from ideal. Klassen heaved Rana for a massive six over backward square leg and it looked like everything was over. However, the pacer conceded a single and followed it up with the wicket of Shahbaz Ahmed who tried to finish the match with a big six but ended up getting caught by Shreyas Iyer at long-on.
Marco Jansen was the new batter and he did the sensible thing by taking a single and getting the in-form Klaasen back on strike. The next delivery was a deft off-cutter from Rana and Klaasen could only manage to miscue his shot completely.
Suyash Sharma was positioned at short third and it took a brilliant effort from him to complete the catch as he ran quite a distance and had to produce a full stretch dive at the end.
Plot Twist
Suyash Sharma’s dismisses Heinrich Klaasen
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The equation was clear – 5 runs need to win from the final ball with SRH skipper Pat Cummins on strike. Rana was once again clever in his approach as he produced another slower delivery outside the off stump and Cummins was not able to make any contact as KKR clinched the victory.
Andre Russel’s all-round effort headlined Kolkata Knight Riders’ sweaty four-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in their IPL match here on Saturday.
Russell’s brutal unbeaten 64 off 25 balls with three fours and seven sixes and Phil Salt‘s more pragmatic 54 off 40 balls guided KKR to 208 for seven.
Left-arm pacer T Natarajan was their most successful bowler with a three-wicket haul (3/32). At several points, SRH threatened to chase 208 down, particularly when Heinrich Klaasen (63, 29b, 8x6s) went berserk in the backend of the innings.
But the Hyderabad side fell agonisingly close to the target.
(With PTI inputs)
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