Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders Clash in IPL 2024 Opener
Kolkata, March 23: The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season kicked off with a thrilling encounter between Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
SRH captain Pat Cummins won the toss and elected to bowl first, hoping to exploit the early morning conditions. KKR captain Shreyas Iyer, on the other hand, was confident in his team’s batting lineup.
The KKR openers, Venkatesh Iyer and Phil Salt, got off to a solid start, putting on 45 runs for the first wicket. However, the introduction of Marco Jansen into the attack proved to be a game-changer. The South African left-arm pacer dismissed both openers in quick succession, leaving KKR reeling at 45/2.
Shreyas Iyer and Nitish Rana then steadied the innings with a 50-run partnership. But just when KKR seemed to be gaining momentum, Cummins struck with a double-wicket over, removing both Iyer and Rana.
Andre Russell and Sunil Narine provided some late fireworks, but KKR could only manage to post a total of 165/8 in their allotted 20 overs.
In response, SRH got off to a shaky start, losing Mayank Agarwal and Rahul Tripathi cheaply. However, Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen steadied the ship with a 60-run partnership.
Markram, in particular, played a brilliant innings, scoring 75 runs off just 50 deliveries. He was well-supported by Klaasen, who contributed 45 runs.
Despite a late surge from KKR, led by Mitchell Starc’s 3/30, SRH managed to chase down the target with four balls to spare.
Key Details:
* SRH won the toss and elected to bowl first.
* KKR posted a total of 165/8 in 20 overs.
* SRH chased down the target with four balls to spare.
* Aiden Markram was named Player of the Match for his brilliant 75-run knock.
