IPL 2019, SRH vs KKR: Turning Point – KC Cariappa drops Jonny Bairstow in the second over

Here’s a look at the turning point of the match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders.

The Kolkata Knight Riders handed a debut to Yarra Prithviraj and the fast bowler could have had a fairytale start to his IPL career if KC Cariappa held on to a catch in the second over of Sunrisers Hyderabad’s innings. After KKR posted 159/8 in 20 overs in Hyderabad on Sunday, the visitors needed to pick up early wickets and take advantage of SRH’s brittle batting order. ((Full Scorecard))

Jonny Bairstow in action. (PTI)

In the fifth ball of the second over, Jonny Bairstow slashed at a delivery outside the off-stump and the ball went straight to Cariappa in the deep. The KKR player got his hands to the ball but somehow it slipped out and touched the boundary rope. Bairstow was batting on just four runs at that point and he went on to score 80* runs off 43 balls to help SRH win by nine wickets with five overs to spare.

Bairstow continued to ride on his luck throughout his innings, being dropped by Harry Gurney in the 12th over and Piyush Chawla in the 13th over. The Englishman struck seven boundaries and three sixes during the course of his innings.

The Kolkata Knight Riders will certainly look back at the drop catch by Cariappa and feel that they could have got over the line if Bairstow was back in the hut in the second over.

“The way they got off to that start, the bowlers did well to peg them back. Huge credit to our guys, it could’ve got away from us. Could’ve got to 200. When we came out to bat, the pitch slowed up. Expected it to be slightly quicker than that tonight. There’s been a lot of chat about the middle order, probably unfairly so. We’ve got some quality players in that middle order who haven’t been able to spend some time in the middle which is a good thing because it means we’ve been doing our job,” said Bairstow at the presentation.