KKR vs SRH: Raghuvanshi, Iyer take Kolkata to 200/6

Kolkata, Apr 3 (PTI) Kolkata Knight Riders’ under-fire middle order finally delivered as Venkatesh Iyer silenced his critics with a 25-ball fifty while Angkrish Raghuvanshi struck a fluent half-century to power KKR to 200/6 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL here on Thursday.

KKR’s new-look opening pair continued to struggle, with Quinton de Kock (1) and Sunil Narine (7) falling cheaply after SRH opted to bowl.

But an 81-run partnership by skipper Ajinkya Rahane (38 from 27b) and Raghuvanshi (50 off 32 balls; 5x4, 2x6) laid the foundation for a competitive total.

SRH gained ground in the middle overs when 26-year-old Sri Lankan Kamindu Mendis delivered a rare sight in IPL history, bowling with both hands in the same over on debut.

The ambidextrous Sri Lankan first bowled left-arm spin to Raghuvanshi before switching to off-spin against the left-handed Rinku Singh.

The over proved pivotal as he dismissed Raghuvanshi, breaking KKR’s momentum.

Momentum slowed with boundaries drying up for two overs, but Iyer (60 off 29 balls; 7x4, 3x6) and Rinku (32 not out from 17 balls; 4x4, 1x6) reignited the innings.

Iyer’s desperate pull off a Simarjeet beamer ended the drought, and Rinku smashed three consecutive boundaries off Harshal Patel before Iyer tore into Simarjeet with back-to-back fours.

Rinku capped off the over with a massive six over long-on, yielding 17 runs.

Iyer was at his belligerent best against Cummins in the 19th over, hammering the SRH skipper for 4, 6, 4, 4 in succession as KKR notched their first 200-plus total of the season. The hosts hammered 78 runs in last five overs.

Earlier Pat Cummins struck early in the third over, setting up de Kock with a short ball that was miscued to deep midwicket, while Shami dismissed an out-of-sorts Narine with a wide yorker that took the edge behind.

From 16/2 in 2.3 overs, KKR recovered through an 81-run stand between Rahane and Raghuvanshi.

Rahane broke the shackles with two crisp pull shots for sixes off Shami and Cummins, as KKR reached 53/2.

Raghuvanshi complemented Rahane with stylish stroke play, piercing gaps with drives through cover and square region.

His standout strokes came against Zeeshan Ansari -- a clean lofted six over long-off and a well-placed reverse hit past backward point. He reached a well-deserved 50 off 30 balls.

However, Ansari broke the partnership in the same over as Rahane gloved a reverse sweep to Heinrich Klaasen.

Captain Cummins’ decision to underutilise spin on a pitch with variable bounce was debatable.

Leg-spinner Ansari bowled just three overs (1/25), while Mendis wasn’t given another over after his match-turning spell. PTI