Kolkata Knight Riders queered the pitch on the IPL 2022 points table with a 54 run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad at the MCA Stadium in Pune on Saturday night.

After opting to bat, Kolkata posted 177 for six in their 20 overs and in response Hyderabad was restricted to 123 for eight.

Earlier, Kolkata was powered by a 48 run second wicket stand between Ajinkya Rahane and Nitish Rana. Later, Sam Billings held the innings together with a 63 run sixth wicket stand along side Andre Russell. Billings was dismissed for 34. Then towards the end, Russell smoked an unbeaten 49 off 28 balls with three boundaries and four sixes. In the end Kolkata finished on 177 for six in their 20 overs. For Hyderabad the best bowler was Umran Malik (3-33).

The chase for Hyderabad was stymied by steady fall of wickets. The innings was revived by Abhishek Sharma's 43 off 28 balls with four boundaries and two sixes. Then Aiden Markram tried to hold the innings together with a 25-ball 32. But unfortunately regular fall of wickets ensured that Hyderabad's innings faltered. In the end Hyderabad was restricted to 123 for eight in their 20 overs. For Kolkata the best bowler was Russell (3-22). 

Match Summary
Kolkata Knight Riders: 177-6 (20)
Fall of wickets: 1-17 (Venkatesh Iyer-1.6 ov), 2-65 (Nitish Rana-7.3 ov), 3-72 (Ajinkya Rahane-7.6 ov), 4-83 (Shreyas Iyer-9.6 ov), 5-94 (Rinku Singh-11.3 ov), 6-157 (Sam Billings-18.5 ov)

Sunrisers Hyderabad: 123-8 (20)
Fall of wickets: 1-30 (Kane Williamson-5.2 ov), 2-54 (Rahul Tripathi-8.2 ov), 3-72 (Abhishek Sharma-11.5 ov), 4-76 (Nicholas Pooran-12.3 ov), 5-99 (Aiden Markram-14.4 ov), 6-107 (Washington Sundar-17.1 ov), 7-113 (Marco Jansen-17.5 ov), 8-113 (Shashank Singh-18.1 ov)

Result: Kolkata Knight Riders won by 54 runs 

Scorecard

Playing XI
Kolkata Knight Riders: Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer (captain), Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sam Billings (wicket-keeper), Sunil Narine, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Varun Chakravarthy

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Kane Williamson (captain), Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran (wicket-keeper), Shashank Singh, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Umran Malik, Marco Jansen 

Match Details
Toss: Kolkata Knight Riders, elected to bat
Venue: Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune
Start time: 1500 hrs GMT
Match officials:  Anil Chaudhary, KN Ananthapadmanabhan (On-field Umpires); Michael Gough (TV Umpire); Saidharshan Kumar (Reserve Umpire); Narayanan Kutty (Match-referee) 

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