Kolkata Knight Riders secured their third consecutive victory in the IPL by defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets, thanks to spinners Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine.
Chakravarthy took 3-36 and Narine claimed 2-31, limiting Hyderabad to 165 all out in 19 overs, even with Travis Head’s impressive 61 off 28 balls.
Kolkata, the three-time champions, chased down the target in 18.2 overs, with Angkrish Raghuvanshi scoring 59 and captain Ajinkya Rahane contributing 43 in a crucial partnership of 84 runs.
After Rahane and Raghuvanshi’s dismissals, Rinku Singh (22 not out) and Cameron Green (3 not out) guided Kolkata to victory, breaking Hyderabad’s five-match winning streak.
Despite the loss, Hyderabad, captained by Pat Cummins, holds the third position on the points table with six wins and four defeats in 10 matches.
Meanwhile, Kolkata is placed eighth but remains in contention for the playoffs with three wins from nine matches. The top four teams at the end of the league stage will advance to the playoffs.
Finn Allen, the New Zealand opener for Kolkata, provided a blazing start with his quick 29 off 13 balls, taking on Australia’s pace spearhead Cummins with two sixes and two fours.
Cummins got his revenge by dismissing Allen on the last ball of an over, but the strong start set Kolkata on the path to victory.
Raghuvanshi and Rahane built a solid partnership to edge closer to victory before Rinku’s winning boundary sealed the match.
The bowlers paved the way for victory, with pacer Kartik Tyagi dismissing Abhishek Sharma for 15, who had been leading the batting chart with 440 runs in 10 matches.
Travis Head’s aggressive innings, comprising nine fours and three sixes, came to an end when Chakravarthy caught him at mid-wicket, and Narine also removed Ishan Kishan for 42, derailing Hyderabad’s batting in the final 10 overs.
Tyagi contributed with 2-30, supporting his team’s spinners with his pace bowling.