
New Delhi: Sunrisers Hyderabad concluded an IPL season of what ifs with a power-laden batting performance just as it had begun marking a crushing 110-run win over Kolkata Knight Riders on the back of Heinrich Klaasens 37-ball century here on Sunday. In the tournament opener SRH had piled an intimidating 286 on Rajasthan Royals and on this day at the half-empty Feroz Shah Kotla Klaasen (105 not out from 39 balls) and Travis Head (76 from 40 balls) who had reserved his best for the last assisted the Orange Army to notch up an unbeatable 278 for 3 from 20 overs. Even though Kotla track was a featherbed KKR were never in contention as they scored 168 in 18.4 overs with experienced Jaydev Unadkat (2/23 in 3 overs) taking early wickets with his astute change of pace. Left-arm bowler Harsh Dubey (3/34 in 4 overs) and Sri Lanka fast bowler Eshan Malinga (3/31 in 3.4 overs) also had a good day. SRH captain Pat Cummins and the team as a whole is sure to feel let down with the way they played between the first and the final game. On flat tracks SRH was fearsome with their batsmen in rhythm but on tracks where they had to change and play differently they were flat. Later they managed to win six one game was abandoned and lost at least two games they should have won. The rub of the green didnt favor SRH when it came to small margins and that turned out to be the reason why they fell short of play-off qualifications. Klaasen (105 not out off 39 balls) was far tougher compared to Head because he brought up his half-century off a mere 18 balls after joining the innings at the fall of opener Abhishek Sharma (32 off 16 balls). The South African literally carried on with the carnage even after Head left hitting seven fours and nine sixes many of them into the second tier of stands here. Klaasen dominated the KKR bowlers primarily in the straighter trajectory and the likes of Anrich Nortje (0/60 in 4 overs) Harshit Rana (0/40 in 3 overs) Varun Chakravarthy (0/54 in 3 overs) and Sunil Narine (2/42 in 4 overs) were taken to task on one of the flattest surfaces available. On a pitch where SRH had established the new batting record in 2024 of 125 in Powerplay vs Delhi Capitals Head and his co-conspirator Abhishek started with adding 79 in the opening six overs to get into groove. The Kotla pitch was one where any batsman could simply plant his front foot and strike through the line or move back to pull over mid-wicket. Both Head and Abhishek opened up the field and paced pacers across extra cover with complete disdain. The KKR bowling lineup has been miserably hit this season whether it was home or away matches. On flat decks their spinners Chakravarthy and Narine lacked bite and as far as the pacers were concerned Harshits tendency to employ cross-seam variations came back to bite him horribly. Harshit of 2024 did not rely so heavily upon the slow deliveries and bowled the heavy deliveries short pitched material and hard length balls more often. In regards to Nortje the lack of match time was evident as it was his second game and throughout the course of the game he just kept looking for that perfect length wherein he could keep the batter silent. The only one who managed to get away with slightly lighter punishment was Vaibhav Arora (1/39 off 4 overs).
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