Ferguson dents Hyderabad hopes as Kolkata see turnaround in fortunes with win

Mohammad Abdullah, Staff Reporter

Lockie Ferguson bowled a mesmerising spell as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) bounced back to end their losing streak with a win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in a Super Over in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

A herculean effort by David Warner forced the match into the Super Over. In-form Ferguson, who had earlier picked three wickets, restricted Hyderabad to a paltry score of just two runs in the Super Over. The right-arm pacer rattled the stumps of Warner and Abdul Samad off the first and third deliveries respectively.

Defending, Rashid Khan did bowl two dot balls to spark a hope as the match seemed to be heading for another thrilling finish before Kolkata closed out the game with two leg-byes on the fourth ball.

With the victory, Kolkata returned to the winning ways after two consecutive defeats. Change in the leadership seems to have started bearing fruit for Kolkata, who appointed Eoin Morgan as the new skipper in the middle of the tournament after Dinesh Karthik relinquished the post.

Earlier, Hyderabad needed 18 runs in the final over to win the match and Andre Russell started the proceedings with a no ball. Warner hit three successive fours and brought the equation down to four off two balls.

Warner took a double off the penultimate delivery, but Russell could manage to take a single on the last ball as the match went into the Super Over.

Chasing 164 runs to win, Hyderabad made a change to their opening duo as Kane Williamson came out to bat with Jonny Bairstow. The move worked well for them as the duo of Williamson-Bairstow scored 57 in the power play.

Bairstow played his aggressive shots, Williamson looked content with deft touches to keep the scorecard ticking. The duo brought up a fifty-run stand in the sixth over with Williamson hitting a six and a four. Ferguson gave Kolkata their first breakthrough and broke the dangerous-looking partnership. He struck on his first delivery as Williamson was caught at third man.

In his next over, the right-arm pacer dismissed Priyam Garg. Kolkata continued to chip away as mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy in the ninth over, picked the wicket of Bairstow. For his third scalp, Ferguson dismissed Manish Pandey with a perfect yorker.

Meanwhile, Warner became the fourth player to bring up 5,000 IPL runs. The Hyderabad skipper and Vijay Shankar took their side past 100, but Pat Cummins broke the partnership with the wicket of Vijay Shankar.

Hyderabad had a chance to strike early and dismiss Shubman Gill in the second over. But, Rashid Khan dropped the catch and Gill went on to score 36.

After a sedate start Kolkata openers shifted gears. Rahul Tripathi hit a six and a four off T Natarajan in the fourth over before Gill hit three successive boundaries in the next.

However, SRH managed to break the opening partnership on the final ball of the powerplay as T Natarajan disturbed the timber to get Tripathi out.

Kolakta brought up their hundred in the 15th over, but lost Andre Russell in the same over after he holed to Shankar off T Natarajan, who picked his second wicket.