IPL 2023: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad Match 19 - Talking Points and Who Said What?

The 19^th match of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 saw yet another exciting clash between Aiden Markram’s Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Notably, the Sunrisers prevailed in the high-octane clash by 23 runs against KKR at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Friday, April 14.

SRH posted a mammoth first innings total of 228 runs all thanks to Harry Brooks’ majestic ton. However, in response, KKR did put up a tough fight and gave the rival side a run for their money. Despite this, SRH got the better of the home side and won the contest, thereby winning their second game in the IPL 2023.

Here are the Talking Points of the KKR vs SRH match-

Harry Brook slams first century of IPL 2023 

24-year-old Harry Brook slammed the ongoing tournament’s first century, against KKR. In the first innings, SRH swiftly got the game moving as Harry Brook got the big runs with ease. Despite the two wickets of Mayank Agarwal and Rahul Tripathi who were dismissed within the powerplay, Brook played his impressive knock. Clobbering three maximums and 12 boundaries, Brook got his century off just 55 balls. Moreover, the batter also raised a 72-run partnership with skipper Aiden Markram and another 72-run partnership with Abhishek Sharma to help his side post a humongous first innings score.

SRH's mini-fallout during chase ft. Nitish Rana

SRH extended their domination right from the beginning of the chase as Bhuvneshwar Kumar got the scalp of Rahmanullah Gurbaz on the third ball of the second innings. Marco Jansen added two more wickets in consecutive deliveries to keep KKR reeling in the chase.

However, Nitish Rana, the KKR skipper, pitched in and tried leading from the front. Hammering 28 runs off a single over of Umran Malik, he got KKR back into the contest. Despite this, SRH remained firm in their game and continued to get the vital breakthroughs as Mayank Markande and T Natarajan got three wickets between them to further dent the chase.

Rinku Singh's impressive form continues 

Rinku Singh scripted history against Gujarat after he smashed five sixes off the final five balls. Likewise, in this contest, he took the onus of getting the side close to the finish line to obtain a potential win after the skipper’s dismissal. Impressively, he hammered four boundaries and as many maximums to score a quickfire 31-ball 58. However, with the required run rate upticking, the batter was unable to win it for the side this time around.

Winning Skipper, Aiden Markram said:

Hats off to the bowler, showed a bit of courage and character. Fortunate to get off a good start. We bat quite deep and that's the impact it had. [on b] We all know Harry's talent, he hits good cricket shots at PP. Bhuvi is Mr. Reliable. It was a totugh wicket to be a bowler. Kudos for keeping calm. They are great bunch of guys. There are areas to work on. It's nice to improve as a team, hopefully, we keep the momentum.

Losing Skipper, Nitish Rana said:

I feel that the way we bowled wasn't in line with the plan. However the wicket may be, a score of close to 230 is too high. We could have planned and bowled better. We know that what Rinku did the other day won't happen everyday; but the way he batted and the way I batted made me happy overall. The plan that I communicated with Rinku and Dre Russ was to take it as deep as possible; I thought anything can happen then. I tried to hold one end and went about hitting. [On the pitch] We know that the wicket at Eden Gardens has always played like this and will continue to do so. Even we were expecting 200 but we could have bowled better. On a given day, I can't do much if the main bowler goes for runs because the same bowlers win the most games. It was a bad day and that's okay.

Player of the Match, Harry Brook said: