SRH vs KKR, IPL 2021: Nitish Rana and Rahul Tripathi fires as KKR outshine SRH by 10 runs

Brilliant half-centuries by both Nitish Rana and Rahul Tripathi helped KKR to secure a 10-run win against Sunrisers Hyderabad at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Sunday. Manish Pandey and Jonny Bairstow also scored the fifties for SRH but it didn't work for them as they fell short by 10 runs.

Image By: Zee News

Match: 3rd Match, KKR vs SRH.

Venue: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.

Toss: Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and opted to field.

KKR Score: 187/6 in 20 overs.

SRH Score: 177/5 in 20 overs.

Result: Kolkata Knight Riders won by 10 runs.

Player of the Match: Nitish Rana for scoring 80 runs in 56 balls.

Invited to bat first, KKR paced their innings brilliantly to reach past the 180-run mark. Youngster Shubhman Gill and Nitish Rana opened the innings for KKR and added 53 runs in just 7 overs as the 1st wicket-stand for the team. Shubhman got out scoring 15 runs facing a slower googly by Rashid Khan. After the departure of Shubhman Gill, another member of the young brigade Rahul Tripathi joined Nitish Rana. The real demolition was done by these two batsmen. Nitish Rana playing smartly taking advantage of the shorter boundary and the blowing breeze scoring boundaries at regular intervals. On the other side, Rahul Tripathi started scoring at a great pace. Rahul clarified his intentions when he hit a six in the over of Mohammad Nabi over long-off. They both maintained a scoring rate over 10 runs which eventually helped them setting a huge total. Dinesh Kartik also scored a quick-fire 22 runs off just 9 balls at the end.

From SRH, Rashid Khan bowled greatly grabbing 2 wickets for 24 runs in his 4-over spell. Other than Rashid Khan, no other bowler bowled with an economy rate of less than 6 runs an over. However, Mohammad Nabi also took 2 wickets. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T Natrajan got 1 wicket each.

SRH didn't get a very great start from their openers as Prasidh Krishna dismissed skipper David Warner early in the innings. David Warner scored just 3 runs in 4 deliveries. Wriddhiman Saha also didn't produce a great knock as he got out scoring just 7 runs. Manish Pandey and Jonny Bairstow revived the game for SRH in the middle overs. Pandey and Bairstow stitched a 92-run partnership for the 3rd wicket in just 65 balls. Jonny Bairstow was caught out by Nitish Rana at the point in the 13th over. Jonny Bairstow scored 55 runs in just 40 balls which included 5 fours and 3 sixes. Manish Pandey and Abdul Samad were unbeaten at the end but they failed to produce sufficient boundaries to take SRH home. Manish Pandey scored unbeaten 61 runs off just 44 balls hitting 3 sixes and 2 fours. 

Prasidh Krishna took 2 wickets for KKR while Shakib al Hasan, Pat Cummins, and Andre Russell bagged 1 wicket each. Prasidh Krishna took a very important wicket of skipper David Warner who could have turned the result another way round.

This was the 13th win for KKR  in 20 meetings against SRH in the Indian Premier League.