IPL 2024 Qualifier 1 - Drop catches add salt to SRH's woes, KKR capitalise with boundaries

Nothing seems to be going right for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Qualifier 1 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). After posting just 159 runs on the board, SRH bowlers didn't have much to defend, especially against an attacking KKR side. What’s not helping their case are the dropped catches by the fielders.

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First, in the 9.1 over, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth came to bowl, and KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer tried to play the scoop shot, which came right off the face. It hit keeper Heinrich Klaasen on the body and lobbed towards the on-side. It was a fantastic effort by the wicketkeeper to move to his left and attempt to take it on the second try. However, the ball popped out due to his collision with Rahul Tripathi, who was also charging towards the ball.

Soon after, in the 10.1 over, T Natarajan bowled to Iyer again, and this time, the KKR captain sliced it away, literally into the hands of Travis Head, who put down a regulation chance. Both these dropped catches saw the KKR batters, soon on the next ball, smash it into the park.

Currently, after 12 overs, KKR have scored 129 runs and lost just 2 wickets. Kolkata Knight Riders need 31 runs in 48 balls to seal their spot in the final.

Earlier in the innings, SRH did not anticipate such a start, losing Travis Head for a duck and having little success with Abhishek Sharma (3 off 4) after winning the toss and choosing to bat. When Rahul Tripathi took the field, he attempted to stabilize the innings, but Nitish Reddy (9 off 10) and Shahbaz Ahmed (0 off 1) were dismissed early. Heinrich Klaasen managed to score 32 off 21 before being dismissed by Varun Chakaravarthy.

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The drama unfolded when Abdul Samad and Rahul Tripathi miscommunicated, resulting in the latter being run out for 55 off 35. Abdul Samad was dismissed after making just 16 off 12, while Sanvir Singh, who had been brought in as an impact substitute, was bowled for a duck. Captain Pat Cummins played a vital innings at the end, scoring 30 off 24, but he was unable to do much with tailenders Bhuvneshwar Kumar (0 off 4) and Vijayakanth Viyaskanth (7 off 5).

For KKR, Mitchell Starc took 3 wickets, while Varun Chakaravarthy picked up two. Vaibhav Arora, Sunil Narine, Harshit Rana, and Andre Russell all claimed one wicket each.

Teams:

Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Rahmaah Gurbaz(w), Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer(c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy

Impact Subs: Anukul Roy, Manish Pandey, Nitish Rana, KS Bharat, Sherfaine Rutherford

Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Pat Cummins(c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, T Natarajan

Impact Subs: Sanvir Singh, Umran Malik, Glenn Phillips, Washington Sundar, Jaydev Unadkat