Disciplined bowling effort led by Varun Chakravarthy helps KKR snap SRH's winning streak

Match overview

A disciplined bowling effort headlined by mystery spinners Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine helped Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) snap the five-match-long winning streak of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Sunday (May 3). Away from the comfort of their home, the KKR bowlers foiled the plans of the hosts to bat first and put an imposing total on the board in match 45 of the IPL.

SRH captain Pat Cummins expected his batters to run riot and take the KKR bowlers to task. However, KKR were up for the challenge and didn't even let SRH bat their full quota of overs, restricting them to a below-par total of 165.

The plaudits must go to the KKR spin twins: Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine. The duo exercised phenomenal control and outwitted the SRH batters. They picked up five wickets between them while conceding 67 runs in eight overs. Player of the Match (POTM) Varun topped the wicket charts for KKR with figures of 3/36. Narine (2/31) and Kartik Tyagi (2/30) claimed two wickets apiece.

Barring Travis Head (61 off 28) and Ishan Kishan (42 off 29), none of the other SRH batters rose to the occasion, and it didn't augur well for them. Head, in particular, looked in menacing touch, but failed to put a long hop from Varun away and picked out Cameron Green patrolling the deep midwicket fence.

Ishan was also denied his half-century as Narine got rid of him. SRH's innings never peaked again and lurched its way to 165.

In reply, Finn Allen (29 off 13) and Ajinkya Rahane (43 off 36) got KKR off to a flyer before the former was dismissed by Pat Cummins on the last ball of the fourth over, reducing KKR to 49/1.

Angkrish Raghuvanshi (59 off 47) then added 84 runs for the second wicket and wrestled complete control in KKR's favour. Raghuvanshi scored a match-winning fifty at a strike rate of 125.53.

Rinku Singh (22* off 11) provided the finishing touch as KKR won by seven wickets and 10 balls to spare.

Top run-scorer of the match

Top wicket-taker of the match

Player of the Match

Varun Chakravarthy

Varun Chakravarthy was the trump card for KKR in the game, and he delivered. The wily spinner allowed KKR to take the game by the scruff of its neck as he dismissed Travis Head, who was threatening to take the game away from them.

Turning Point

The combined eight-over spell of Sunil Narine and Chakravarthy was the difference between the two sides. KKR picked the important wickets of Ravichandran Smaran, Salil Arora, Head, Ishan, and Aniket Verma in those eight overs, and SRH could never claw their way back into the contest.

What the captains said

Winning Team Captain, Ajinkya Rahane (KKR)

"It was a good wicket to bat on. I thought 190-200 would have been difficult to chase. Credit to our bowlers. They kept on taking wickets. The bowling unit has been doing really well. Credit goes to our bowling coaches. It's all about planning and executing. As long as you're clear in your head, that's important. Going into the break, the victory was very important. We lost those five matches, but the atmosphere was calm. We kept it really cool. Really happy for Varun. The way he came back was amazing. Works really hard. Great attitude. He has been bowling in the tough situations. I'm sure he'll continue his performance."

Losing Team Captain, Pat Cummins (SRH)

"Not our best day. We got off to a pretty good start. From where we were, we should have found a way to get 200 or 180. You've just got to adapt. Our first eight or ten overs were excellent. I think 180 or something like that [was par]. It did dry up. We dragged it right to the end. There's only little moments that can make the difference."