KKR slump continues as Klaasen guides SRH to 65-run victory

Kolkata: Heinrich Klaasen’s experience-driven half-century guided Sunrisers Hyderabad back to winning ways as they thrashed Kolkata Knight Riders by 65 runs in their IPL clash here on Thursday.

Blessing Muzarabani grabbed 4/41 but it was Klaasen’s composed 52 off 35 balls that held Sunrisers Hyderabad’s innings together as they posted a competitive 226/8 after KKR opted to bowl.

Chasing the daunting target, KKR never found momentum as they were bundled out for 161 and slumped to their second successive defeat, having lost their opening match to Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede.

Boasting a batting-heavy lineup in Finn Allen, IPL’s costliest overseas buy Cameron Green (Rs 25.20-crore), Rinku Singh and Sunil Narine, the target at the free-flowing Eden looked par.

It needed a partnership in the middle but there were clear signs of a lack of chemistry in the KKR line-up as they lasted just 16 overs.

That their mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy leaked 25 runs in one over and returned with 0/31 from two overs also hurt them. Narine (0/39) also returned wicketless from his four overs.

For SRH, left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat took 3/21 from three overs that included the wicket of Rahane, while Ehsan Malinga (2/14 in two overs) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (2/17 in two overs) were also effective.

KKR’s veteran skipper Ajinkya Rahane’s painful eight off 10 balls once again raised questions over the team’s bold leadership call, while partnerships failed to materialise.

Youngster Angkrish Raghuvanshi showed promised with a breezy 52 (29 balls; 6×4, 2×6) but there was no support from the other end.

Fresh from his 100 not out in the T20 World Cup semifinal against South Africa a month ago on the same wicket, Kiwi opener Finn Allen showed early sparks in a seven-ball 28 (4×4, 2×6).

But once he fell to Harsh Dubey giving a return catch, the innings unravelled quickly.

KKR’s star recruit Green endured another failure, run out for two, following a chaotic mix-up with Raghuvanshi who played the shot.

But Malinga stopped the ball with his foot and Green was off the crease.

Raghuvanshi started walking but review showed Green hasn’t crossed so the Aussie had to depart.

The confusion did not end there.

Raghuvanshi, who top-scored for KKR, was involved in yet another mix-up and was run out, summing up KKR’s plight.

Half the side was back in the pavilion soon after Anukul Roy’s dismissal, leaving the chase in tatters.

Vice-captain Rinku Singh offered brief resistance with a 35 off 25 balls, but his dismissal to Reddy ended any lingering hopes.

Walking in after a dramatic middle-over slide from being 110/1 in eight overs to 118/4 in 9.2 overs, Klaasen rebuilt the innings with calm assurance, ensuring the run rate never dipped out of control.

Even as boundaries dried up, the seasoned South African smartly rotated strike and ran hard between the wickets, keeping SRH around the 11-run mark alongside Nitish Kumar Reddy (39; 24 balls) in a match-deciding 82 runs alliance off 53 balls.

The duo put on 50 run together in just 36 balls, with Klaasen striking four fours and a six in his composed 52 off 35 deliveries as they maintained the tempo set by their opening duo of Travis Head (46; 21 balls) and Abhishek sharma (48; 21 balls).

The SRH opening duo raced to an 82-run opening stand in just 34 deliveries, propelling the side to nearly 15 runs per over as KKR’s inexperience with the ball started to haunt them.

After an anxious start with one off his first four balls, Head unleashed a flurry of strokes, smashing five fours and two sixes in the space of nine deliveries as the ball came nicely onto the bat on a true Eden surface.

Abhishek initially played second fiddle before taking on Varun Chakravarthy with three fours and a six in a single over, while Kishan kept the pressure on with a flurry of boundaries.

However, rookie Kartik Tyagi broke the opening stand by removing Head.

Then, a smart move to introduce Muzarabani in the ninth over, combined with sharp fielding from Rinku Singh, triggered the collapse that briefly derailed SRH’s charge before Klaasen restored order.

Muzarabani turned the tide with two wickets in three balls, dismissing skipper Ishan Kishan (14) and the well-set Abhishek.

SRH suddenly lost momentum, slipping to three wickets for just seven runs.

KKR tightened the squeeze further when their sixth bowling option, Anukul Roy, removed Aniket Verma (1), leaving SRH in need of consolidation.

That responsibility fell on Klaasen, who steadied the innings with a measured approach before shifting gears late.

But KKR struck again through Vaibhav Arora who took two wickets at the death to peg SRH back just when they looked set for a bigger finish.

Muzarabani then returned to clean up the tail, dismissing Klaasen and Shivang Kumar (4) in the final over to cap a fine four-wicket haul.