A hard-fought contest between Kolkata and Hyderabad took a Super Over to decide a winner, and riding on the back of sheer brilliance of Lockie Ferguson, Eoin Morgan's men managed to come out on top.
Kolkata were put in to bat first by Hyderabad, and a late blitz by former captain Dinesh Karthik and Eoin Morgan managed to pull their team out of misery to a respectable total of 163/5. Hyderabad, who made some shuffling in their batting order, took a beating but somehow managed to equal the tally to take the game int he Super Over. Lockie Ferguson, however, stood out by picking two for as many runs and Kolkata didn't have to break a sweat to meet the target.
That said, here are some key talking points from the game:
One at a time for Karthik
A change in captaincy has rightly edified Dinesh Karthik at least to some extent. The wicketkeeper, who is now focusing more on his batting, was a lieutenant in charge for Kolkata on Sunday. Despite a strong start, Kolkata lost wickets in crumbs and were playing at a lowly rate of 7 per over after 15 overs. Karthik joined forces with the new captain Eoin Morgan to take his team from 105/4 to 163/5 inside the final five overs. The former skipper remained unbeaten at 29 off 14 deliveries, a knock which included two fours and as many sixes.
Kolkata have had mixed fortune in this year’s Indian T20 League, and the team will be hoping this new lease of life can lift Karthik to an extent that he can deliver decent performances whenever required.
Unplayable Ferguson wins it for Kolkata
Defending 163 in the Indian T20 League can be one arduous task, to say the least, but a certain Lockie Ferguson, playing his first match of the new season, was simply unplayable. A change in the opening order saw Hyderabad going with Kane Williamson and Jonny Bairstow instead of David Warner, and although the new pair gave their team a great start, scoring 58 runs inside the powerplay overs, Ferguson’s arrival not only forced the opposition to go on the back foot but also managed to churn out important wickets.
Pat Cummins - 186 balls , 2 Wickets
— Gaurav Sundararaman (@gaurav_sundar) October 18, 2020
Lockie Ferguson - 10 balls , 2 Wickets
Sometimes it is not how much you pay for a bowler but the decisions taken because you have paid so much for a bowler. #IPL #KKRvsSRH
The Kiwi struck in only his first delivery, removing Williamson from the field followed by Priyam Garg in the subsequent over. As has been the case for a long while now, Hyderabad lost wickets in quick succession, and a lot of credit goes to the New Zealander, who also bowled Manish Pandey with a scorching yorker. He eventually ended his spell with 3/15, which is now the best bowling figure by any Kolkata bowler in this year’s edition. Not to forget his marvellous return in the Super Over which won his team the game.
Warner achieves unique milestone
Hyderabad kept on losing wickets, but captain David Warner, who arrived late onto the scene, managed to score 48 off 33 and in the midst, became the first foreign player to score 5000 runs in the Indian T20 League. Overall, the Australian is now the fourth player to reach the landmark. What stands out most is the fact that he is the fastest to reach the 5000-run mark, having achieved the feat in just 135 innings. Virat Kohli, who has scored 5759 runs, took 157 innings while Suresh Raina took 173. Furthermore, he might have missed out on a half-century but he did complete 900 runs against Kolkata, becoming only the second player - after Rohit Sharma - to do so.
Fastest to 5000 Indian T20 League runs:
- David Warner - 135* inns
- Virat Kohli - 157 inns
- Suresh Raina - 173 inns
- Rohit Sharma - 187 inns
Feature image courtesy: Twitter / @IndianT20League
