KKR vs SRH, IPL 2023 Highlights: Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 23 runs in high-scoring thriller

Half century in just 32 balls. What an innings this has been from Brook and he really can make this a big one.

There have been no boundaries for a while now with the spinners coming into play. Markram steps out to Suyash and smashes the last ball of the 10th over long on to break the shackles.

He crouches down after bowling the third ball of the seventh over. The umpire and Rana checks up on him but he gets up and says he is ready to continue the over.

Russell celebrates even before the wicketkeeper completes the catch! Tripathi top edges his pull and it was an easy enough chance for a wicketkeeper. Russell may not have made an impact with the bat yet but what an impact he has had with the ball. That over is pure symmetry: W, 4, 1, 1wide, 1, 4, W

Tripathi c Rahmanullah Gurbaz b Russell 9 (4), SRH 57/2 in 5 overs

Andre Russell is yet to bowl this season but he ends up taking a wicket with his very first ball today. Short of a length outside off, Agarwal cramped for room and he edges it to short third man.  

Agarwal c Varun b Russell 9 (13), SRH 46/1 after 4.1 overs

He first slices the fifth ball of the third from Umesh over the cover boundary for the first six of the match. Then gets another maximum with a cut over point. Harry Brook showing his class now.

The fifth ball of the second over first goes for five wides and then Ferguson goes slow outside off. Brook exposes his stumps and smashes it to the cover boundary.

And it has been all Harry Brook. He has already matched his highest IPL score thus far. Some good shots in that over and he just leaves that last ball, walks to the other side almost unbothered when he sees that the umpire has not called that wide for height. 

Umesh goes full outside off next ball and Brook moves accross and paddles it past the wideish fine leg. That was innovation and it's a shot that will give him a lot of confidence. What a first over this is turning out to be!

Fourth ball of the first is slightly short from Umesh, Brook pulls it through the mid-on area and gets another boundary. 

Umesh Yadav goes wide outside off for the first ball, Harry Brook throws his bat at it and it races away to the offside fence. He is off the mark allright. 

He is not just the SRH coach after all, Brian Lara is one of the all-time greats and so the CAB doesn't let go of this opportunity and gets him to ring that famous bell of theirs. That prompts the umpires to take the field, followed by the KKR and SRH players. 

Sunrisers Hyderabad Subs: Abdul Samad, Vivrant Sharma, Glenn Phillips, Mayank Dagar, Washington Sundar

Kolkata Knight Riders Subs: Mandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Venkatesh Iyer, David Wiese, Kulwant Khejroliya

“Happy either way. Would have looked to bowl, that is the trend. This is a high scoring wicket, so happy to get runs on the board. Nice to get a win, and today is a fresh start. Hopefully we can do well. One change, Abhishek Sharma comes in for Washi Sundar. I don't think we'll set a target, you need to look at the pitch and then reassess. Whatever we get we'll try our best to defend.”

“We'll bowl first. We've been practicing here and there has been dew. Keeping in mind, we want to chase. Same XI for today.”

Harry Brook, Mayank Agarwal, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram(c), Abhishek Sharma, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Marco Jansen, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Markande, Umran Malik, T Natarajan

Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), N Jagadeesan, Nitish Rana(c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Suyash Sharma, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakaravarthy

Nitish Rana has won the toss and chosen to bowl first

“Body feels good, nice to have a run around in Ahmedabad. Had a hamstring issue coming into the competition, but now it feels okay. It is all about execution in T20s, if you can nail your yorkers and nail the slower balls and commit to them then you can come out on top. Planning is tough because every bowler bowls differently, we look at the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition to work out how things are going to be. (On win against GT) It was a great game, but we need to stay consistent throughout the comp. I’m sure it will be an exciting game today as well.”

The weather is a little bit muggy, so the comfort levels of players are going to be tested. In terms of ground dimensions, it is a 75m straight boundary, but the square boundaries are shorter at 64m and 65m. That means a lot of sixes, says Pommie Mbangwa. The pitch has taken me by surprise. Last game against RCB it was all about the spinners so I thought we would see a shaven pitch with a lot of grass but this pitch is hard and it will hold true. Someone like Umran Malik might enjoy this, and the rest of the pacers who could get good bounce on this wicket. But don’t ball short on this wicket, because the side boundaries are really short. I had a piece prepared for the pitch report for spin, but I don’t think this will turn a lot. You can expect a lot of runs, a batter won’t be too worried looking at this wicket, says Nick Knight.

This year, SRH seemed to have prepared for this tournament thinking that it is set to be held in England or Australia as they have been found utterly wanting against spin. They have lost 12 wickets to spin so far, the second-most for a team behind Delhi Capitals. They also have the lowest strike rate (101) and average (13.7) against spinners this season.

Mayank Agarwal, Harry Brook, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram (c), Heinrich Klaasen(w), Abdul Samad, Washington Sundar, Mayank Markande, Marco Jansen, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umran Malik

Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana (c), Rinku Singh, N Jagadeesan, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy.

Andre Russell has not fired in this tournament and how KKR would love him to do so. Since 2019, he averages 58 against SRH, scoring at a strike-rate of 181. In fact, his numbers against Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the leader of the bowling line-up, reads 63 off 31 balls

Rahul Tripathi is clearly one of the stalwarts in the SRH batting lineup and getting him out cheaply will go a long way in KKR's quest to win this match. However, they'd be well advised not to put Sunil Narine up to that task. Tripathi has never been dismissed by Narine, and has a strike-rate of nearly 150 against him, scoring 71 off 48 balls.