IPL 2017 Match 37, SRH vs KKR: Sunrisers Hyderabad won by 48 runs.
IPL 2017 and certainty, these two words have gelled well this season and last night was a great example of that. When Sunrisers Hyderabad won the Indian Premier League title last year, all people had to say was, it was their luck that helped them clinch the IPL 2017 trophy but times have changed.
SRH has shown time and time again that they are capable of defending the trophy with an exceptional bowling attack and a mind-blowing opening set of batsmen. When Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and opted to bowl first, it seemed like they had a plan of action in mind but the moment SRH vs KKR commenced, every strategy of KKR’s was smashed into the crowd.
There’s very little a team can do when Warner decides to attack. Knowing Kolkata Knight Riders are good at chasing totals, David Warner wanted to make a statement early on and he stunned the visitors with an early onslaught. Interestingly, KKR conceded just six runs in the first over from Nathan Coulter-Nile, but by the end of Powerplay, Warned had already propped up his side to 79 for no loss.
David Warner brought his ‘A’ game to the ground and from the word ‘Go’, we witnessed a ball-smashing, fielding piercing and bowler bashing knock. From switching to a right handed batsman to flipping the bat for a six, David Warner’s 126 off 59 balls was definitely the best of IPL 2017.
Watch that blistering innings here:
His celebrations were worth millions and it clearly shows what this century meant for him and the home crowd. We haven’t seen much of David Warner’s aggression, over the years, but what we saw yesterday was a moment worth cherishing forever.
Wow @davidwarner31 Unbelievable. This is power hitting at its very best 👌
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) April 30, 2017
Shikhar Dhawan’s 29 off 30 and Kane Williamson’s 40 off 25 balls helped Sunrisers Hyderabad a total of 209 runs, the highest this season.
Coming to Kolkata Knight Riders, Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa’s form made us believe that this is going to be a nail-biting and tough to defend chase but other than Robin Uthappa (53 off 28) and Manish Pandey (39 off 29), the whole KKR batting line-up fell cheap against the attack of Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4-29-2), Mohammed Siraj (4-26-2) and Sidharth Kaul (4-26-2).
By the end of second innings, KKR managed to score just 161 runs in 20 overs, giving Sunrisers Hyderabad an easy win over the tally leaders.
Both SRH and KKR now have two home and two away games left to play. While KKR is still at the top with 14 points, Sunrisers Hyderabad now stands second with 13 points. Both teams will be looking forward to strengthening their position at the top of IPL 2017 table.