Rinku, Rana help Knights post 171/9 against SRH

KKR’s Rinku Singh during his 46-run knock v SRH. Pic/AFP

Two brilliant catches and some good pace bowling at the start saw Sunrisers Hyderabad restrict Kolkata Knight Riders to 171-9 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Thursday.

Tall South African left-arm pace bowler Marco Jansen, who came into the side in place of West Indies all-rounder Akeal Hosein, provided the early breakthrough for SRH by dismissing opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz and left-hander Venkatesh Iyer in his very first over. KKR were 16 for 2 in two overs. Gurbag was deceived by the bounce and was caught at mid-on while Iyer, the team's highest scorer this season, was snapped up behind while trying to hook Jansen.

Playing his first match, Kartik Tyagi tasted success in his first over by scalping the dangerous Jason Roy (20), whose heave saw the ball balloon to short third man. There was not much swing for Bhuvneshwar Kumar, but Jansen and Tyagi extracted good bounce from the wicket.

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Skipper Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh (35-ball 46), the batting sensation, were involved in a handy partnership of 61 runs to pull KKR out of the woods. Rana was the aggressor between the two left-handers and in Tyagi's second over, he hammered the pacer for two sixes and a four. However, Rana's stint came to an end as skipper Aiden Markram held him off his own bowling by running back to mid-on for a brilliant diving catch.

Andre Russell (15-ball 24) threatened to take the game away from SRH, but the impressive leg-spinner Mayank Markande sent back the aggressive West Indian with a flighted top-spinner and was held at third man. SRH snatched the initiative further when Kumar saw the back of Sunil Narine.