Twitter Reactions: Clinical SRH thump the hapless Knights in Hyderabad

The Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) bowling attack has disappointed big time this season. It continued to do so even in the game against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). The target of 160 was a fighting one but their bowlers looked hapless literally in front of the likes of David Warner and Jonny Bairstow. The SRH’s opening duo pummelled every bowler that came their way as the Orange Army are well and truly back in contention for playoffs now.

The pitch was slow and the home team was aware that it wasn’t going to be easy chasing down 160. But Warner and Bairstow attacked the bowlers from the first over and didn’t let any bowler settle. KKR had brought in the fresh legs of Yarra Prithviraj and KC Cariappa at the expense of Kuldeep Yadav and Prasidh Krishna. But both the replacements didn’t have any idea what to do after they went for runs.

Both the SRH batsmen scored half-centuries and then played risk-free cricket as the contest was virtually ended in the powerplay itself. When it seemed that the opening duo will finish it off for SRH, Prithviraj castled Warner but that was only the consolation prize for the debutant and the team. KKR were lacklustre in the fielding as they dropped Bairstow early in the innings and paid the prize for the same.

With Kane Williamson coming in to bat next there was no question of panicking for the hosts as they cantered home with nine wickets and five overs to spare.

KKR waste Russell

After losing the toss, it was clear that KKR had to score close to 180 to have any chance of winning the game. They even started really well with Sunil Narine scoring 25 off just 8 balls. But he took the momentum with him to the dugout after getting out. No other batsman could time the ball well as the pitch slowed down a bit as the game progressed.

Some poor decision from the middle-order batsmen also cost the team. Chris Lynn held one end well to play an anchor role throughout the innings. But with no other player sticking a partnership with him, Lynn could never accelerate and got out soon after crossing the 50-run mark. Rinku Singh did well to score 30 runs but never threatened during his stay in the middle.

Andre Russell was sent at number seven and clearly wasted. He came in to bat with only 27 deliveries left in the innings and didn’t get the strike as well with Piyush Chawla unable to put bat to the ball while facing Rashid Khan. However, the Caribbean managed to hit a couple of lusty blows in the penultimate over but Bhuvneshwar Kumar got him in the end as KKR finished at 159 runs for the loss of eight wickets after 20 overs which were eventually not enough.

Here’s how Twitter reacted:

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