IPL: KKR restrict Hyderabad to 162/8 in eliminator

Riding on some disciplined bowling, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) restricted Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to 162/8 in the eliminator of the Indian Premier League (IPL) here on Wednesday.

Chinaman Kuldeep Yadav put up yet another impressive show with three wickets to break the backbone of the Sunrisers batting, who were off to a disappointing start after being sent in to bat at the Ferozshah Kotla Stadium.

Veteran Yuvraj Singh (44) and Australian Moises Henriques (31) top-scored for Hyderabad after the side lost the key wicket of in-form opener Shikhar Dhawan (10) cheaply.

After losing Dhawan, skipper David Warner (28), who was dropped by Yusuf Pathan in the fifth over, resurrected the innings with incoming batsman Henriques to take the team to 43/1 in the powerplay.

Both the Australians pounced on the easy offerings from the KKR bowlers to raise a 59-run stand for the second wicket before Henriques was brilliantly caught and bowled by Yadav. Henriques's 21-ball knock composed of one four and two sixes.

Warner then joined Henriques in the dug-out the very next ball as Yadav produced another beauty to dismiss the in-form southpaw for a run-a-ball 28, laced with three hits to the fence.

With Hyderabad struggling at 71/3 after 10 overs, incoming batsmen Yuvraj and Deepak Hooda (21) took the attack to the opposition with some glorious shots to take the team past the 100-run mark at the start of the 15th over.

The left-right combination of Yuvraj and Hooda went on milking runs at will before the Haryana batter threw away his wicket to a silly run-out ending the 49-run fourth wicket stand.

Coming in next, Aussie all-rounder Ben Cutting failed to trouble the scorers as Yadav packed him with the first ball of his second spell to be beautifully stumped by Robin Uthappa.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Naman Ojha (7) then joined Yuvraj in the middle and the duo added a quickfire 21 runs for the sixth wicket before the Punjab southpaw was clean bowled by Jason Holder. Yuvraj's 30-ball knock was laced with eight fours and a six.

Holder struck once again in the same over to pack Ojha as Hyderabad were left to the tail-enders with 148 runs on the board after 19 overs.

All-rounder Bipul Sharma (14) hit a couple of lusty sixes off Morne Morkel in the final over to take Hyderabad to 162/8.

For KKR, Yadav was the pick of the bowlers picking three wickets while Holder and Morkel chipped in with two wickets apiece.Brief Scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 162/8 (Yuvraj Singh 44, Moises Henriques 31, David Warner 28, Kuldeep Yadav 3/35) vs Kolkata Knight Riders.

--IANS

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