IPL 2020: Kolkata Knight Riders retained in top 4 of points table with a Super Over win over Sunirsers Hyderabad

Lockie Ferguson did not put a foot wrong in his first match of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 as he led Kolkata Knight Riders to a crucial Super Over win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in Abu Dhabi on Sunday. KKR retained their spot in the top 4 with 10 points from 9 matches as the former champions' chances of making the play-offs have brightened.

Lockie Ferguson reminded Kolkata Knight Riders why he should have been picked in the XI much earlier than their 9th match as he jolted the Sunrisers Hyderabad with his pace. He picked up 3 wickets in the tied contest where both SRH and KKR finished with 163 on the board.

As the match slipped into the Super Over, Lockie Ferguson ended Sunrisers Hyderabad's chances in just 3 balls, rattling the wickets twice to send back David Warner and Abdul Samad. SRH managed just 2 runs in the Super Over after which Dinesh Karthik and Eoin Morgan came up with a sensible approach in the chase against Rashid Khan to help them seal 2 points.

A heroic effort from an injured Kane Williamson and a valiant knock from David Warner at an unfamiliar batting position wasn't enough for Sunrisers Hyderabad who have suffered their third straight loss at IPL 2020. SRH were faced with a tricky target of 164 on a sluggish wicket at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium after Dinesh Karthik and captain Eoin Morgan came up with a late blitz and powered Kolkata Knight Riders past 160.

Helping raise a few eyebrows, Sunrises Hyderabad opened with Kane Williamson instead of David Warner as the New Zealand star, carrying a hamstring injury, was sent higher up the order to make use of the fielding restrictions. SRH came up with a smart move as they might not have been able to use an injured Williamson



after the powerplay.

The move did work as Williamson and Jonny Baristow took the attack to the KKR pacers, including Pat Cummins, in the powerplay as SRH posted 57 without losing a wicket. Despite not running much between the wickets, Williamson got to 29 off 18 balls.

However, things changed dramatically for Kolkata Knight Riders when they introduced their express pacer Lockie Ferguson, who was playing his first match of IPL 2020. Ferguson picked up Williamson's wicket in his first ball of the tournament. He then ran through the middle-order, sending back Priyam Garg and Manish Pandey -- two of their consistent performers in the season -- cheaply.

Varun Chakravarthy got the big wicket of Jonny Bairstow as SRH lost 4 wickets for 24 runs in a span of 32 balls. All-rounder Vijay Shankar failed to trouble the scorers much with the bat.

SRH were 109 for 5 in 15.2 overs and David Warner was left with a bit too much to do. He was joined by young Abdul Samad as the duo gave the impetus in the end overs.

However, Ferguson, in his final over, swung it in favour of KKR, conceding just 7 runs. He finished with figures of 3/15 in 4 overs, reminded the KKR management that he deserved a spot in the XI much earlier in the season.

Ferguson was electric in the field as well as he came up with another relay catch of IPL 2020 to dismiss Abdul Samad, who was looking dangerous. The youngster's cameo -- a 23-ball 15 came to end in the 19th over.

With 17 needed in the last over, Warner switched gears and hit a half-fit Russell for three boundaries. However, with 2 needed off the final ball, all that Warner could manage was a quick single.