IPL 2018: Match 54, SRH vs KKR - Rating of the Match

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have qualified for the playoffs finally after so many hurdles by defeating the table toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their own den. It was a hard-fought victory for Dinesh Karthik and his Men who came back well with the ball in the last 8 overs and then gunned down the total easily to leave the Orange Army frustrated. Prasidh Krishna’s brilliant death over bowling and then the sensible top-order batsman did the job which sealed the third spot in the points table.

Krishna shines with the ball (4/30)

Prasidh Krishna was signed as the replacement for Kamlesh Nagarkoti by KKR franchise midway through the tournament. He was never in the first playing XI of the team and only came in for the injured Shivam Mavi when only a few matches were left. He has now turned out to be the ace bowler for his side and is also being seen as the death overs specialist. He bowled three overs of his spell at the backend of the innings and came out on top by keeping a lid on the run-scoring.

He took the new ball in the second over and conceded 9 runs after which the home side dominated the proceedings. He straightaway came back in the 16th over when the chips were almost down for KKR and pinned the set Shikhar Dhawan in front of the stumps. The wicket most importantly sucked all the momentum which the hosts had got as he continued bowling well in that over. Even the next over was brilliant from the youngster despite Manish Pandey hit him for a maximum.

However, the jackpot over came for him in the final over when he landed his variations and the yorkers perfectly. The first one to go was Pandey who tried to mow the full slower delivery which dipped on him over deep-mid-wicket. But he didn’t middle the ball at all only for Rinku Singh to take a stunning catch. The next one in the line was Shakib Al Hasan who was bluffed with the slower short delivery which got big on him and the batsman could only spoon it in the air to the square leg fielder.

Wickets kept on raining in the over as Rashid Khan edged the pacy short ball only for the skipper Dinesh Karthik to take a brilliant catch running backwards. Prasidh impressed everyone with his spell and will surely continue bowling at the death going ahead this season. He ended his spell with the superb returns of 4/30 and restricted the hosts to 172 only.

Fantastic Lynn (55 off 43)

Chris Lynn has not been going bonkers this season but has played according to the situation curbing his natural instincts. This year everyone has witnessed the other side of the Australian who only knew to whack the ball earlier. But even today he batted patiently and handed over the playoffs qualification for his team. He opened the innings with Sunil Narine and the duo started well in the powerplay after which just played a waiting game to punish the bad deliveries.

Lynn was severe on any delivery with a little bit of width which came to the fore in the first over itself. The short of a length delivery was absolutely creamed past the cover-point for four. In the third over, Siddarth Kaul was in the firing line as Lynn just showed the glimpse of his original form by clearing his front leg and dismissing the bowler for 10 runs in two balls. However, he went quiet after the powerplay and concentrated on rotating the strike which proved that he has learned to build his innings and it’s not only about hitting sixes for him.

While he was severe on anything short and wide, he played the spin of Rashid Khan well to keep KKR well ahead in the chase. Just when he was sure that his team was in a healthy position, he tried to hunt the leather brutally and completed his well-deserved half-century. But his impressive knock was cut-short in the 14th over by Kaul as Lynn missed one of his slogs only for Pandey to take a smart catch in the deep. But the job was done by then and Lynn returned to the hut after scoring 55 runs with 4 fours and 3 sixes.

Here’s CricTracker’s Rating of the Match: