Credit: IPL
On May 17, 2017, the Gautam Gambhir-led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) beat defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Eliminator game played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Bowling first after winning the toss, Kolkata restricted the Orange Army to 128/7 in their 20 overs. Pacers Nathan Coulter-Nile and Umesh Yadav stepped up for KKR and clinched five wickets together to help their team be in a commanding position in the match. Coulter-Nile registered 3/20 figures in his four-over spell while Umesh bagged 2/21 figures in his four-over spell. Trent Boult and Piyush Chawla also picked up one wicket apiece.
In the first powerplay, Umesh got rid of Shikhar Dhawan, who departed after scoring 11 off 13. Skipper David Warner and Kane Williamson strove to stabilised SRH’s innings but Coulter-Nile broke into the scene and dismissed the Kiwi stalwart. The next over, Piyush Chawla displayed his brilliance and cleaned up Warner. The southpaw returned to the dugout with his score of 37 off 35. Veteran Yuvraj Singh also didn’t get time to settle at the crease and fell against Umesh after amassing a run-a-ball nine. Riding on the batting efforts of Vijay Shankar (22 off 17) and Naman Ojha (16 off 16), SRH posted a total on the board.
Rain intervention reduced the length of the second innings
During the game, rain hit Bengaluru for a period which forced the match referee to reduce the overs in the second innings. KKR were tasked to follow 48 runs in six overs and defending the score, Hyderabad got a sensational start from their pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Chris Jordan.
Bhuvneshwar delivered the first breakthrough to SRH, claiming the scalp of Chris Lynn in the opening over. After Lynn’s dismissal, Yusuf Pathan also got run out the next delivery. In the second over, Jordan got the better of Robin Uthappa. However, captain Gambhir held his nerves and played a courageous innings of an unbeaten 32 off just 19. Riding on his knock, Kolkata chased down the total with four balls to spare in the game. Coulter-Nile became the player of the match (POTM) for his sensational bowling effort of 3/20 in four overs.
