INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Chennai: Opener Nitish Rana (80) and Rahul Tripathi (53) hit fluent half-centuries to script Kolkata Knight Riders' a comfy 10-run win
against Sunrisers Hyderabad in their Indian Premier League match, here on Sunday.SRH's Rashid Khan (2/24) was yet once again at his best,
asking difficult concerns to the KKR batsmen however most of his bowling associates showed inadequate on a sluggish yet good batting
wicket.Hyderabad lost skipper David Warner (3) and Wriddhiman Saha (7) early and were always playing a catch-up game in spite of Jonny
Bairstow's combating half-century
They could manage 177 for 5 in the end
Warner was dropped on nought by Pat Cummins in the first over bowled by Harbhajan Singh but he could not make good use of the life and
became a victim of pacer Prasidh Krishna while Saha was tidied up by Shakib Al Hasan.Jonny Bairstow (55) and Manish Pandey (61 not out)
formed a partnership at a consistent run rate
Australian pacer Cummins broke their 92-run stand when he had Bairstow caught at backward point by Rana
SRH needed 70 off the last five overs.Mohammed Nabi (14) was hit on his neck by Krishna however the Afghan responded with a splitting six
He pursued a slower one however only to be captured by Eoin Morgan
The 19-year-old Abdul Samad, who hails from Jammu and Kashmir, creamed off two sixes and a four off Cummins in the penultimate over to keep
Needing 22 runs from the last over, KKR's Andre Russell held his nerves to deny SRH a win.Earlier, left-handed opener Rana struck the ball
difficult and clean to provide his side a confident start after they were asked to take first strike.His strokes on the off-side-- the
drives and cuts - were of greatest quality and a reward to the eye.Neither Bhuvneshwar Kumar nor T Natarajan might stop Rana from striking
borders even as Subhman Gill was quiet
Sandeep Sharma was pinched hit three limits in a row by him
Gill opened up his arms to hit an enormous straight 6 off Natarajan to make it even better for KKR.However, the run-flow was affected when
ever-reliable Rashid got the ball in his hands
He also supplied the advancement when he deceived Gill with an incorrect'un to discover the stumps.Rana though kept going strong, finishing
his half-century with a six off Vijay Shankar after enduring an LBW appeal off Rashid
He got the decision overturned, taking the DRS call.Rana's six-hitting continued after getting his fifty as he penalized Natarajan and
His associate at the other end Rahul Tripathi likewise stroked with confidence and fluently
He smashed an enormous six off Bhuvneshwar and then followed it up with a cheeky four in the third-man region.He completed his fifty with
another border off Bhuvneshwar however was dismissed by Natarajan right after when he top-edged a ball.Rashid too returned dangerous Andre
Russell (5) back.Mohammed Nabi (2/32) eliminated Rana and Eoin Morgan (2) off succeeding balls in the 18th over.
