Kolkata, (Samajweekly) Harry Brooks’ unbeaten and maiden century and Aiden Markram’s half-century propelled Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to 228/4 against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match at Eden Gardens, here on Friday.
With Brooks’ brilliant 100 off 55 balls, including 12 boundaries and three maximums, skipper Markram 50 off 26 along with Abhishek Sharma (32 off 17) and Heinrich Klaasen’s (16 off 6) quickfire), SRH posted the season’s highest total on the board.
Brook gave a flying start to SRH, hitting Umesh Yadav for three boundaries. The England batter continued with his fearless hitting as he smashed Umesh again in the third over for two back-to-back maximums, taking 15 runs off the over.
In the next over, KKR introduced spin in the form of Sunil Narine in order to put brakes on the visitor’s run rate, which turned to be fruitful as Narine gave away just three runs off the fourth over.
In the fifth over, Andre Russell came into the attack and picked up a wicket on his first ball, dismissing Mayank Agarwal, who tried to dab it past the third man where Varun Chakaravarthy moved to his left and completed a fine catch.
In the same over, Russel picked his second in the form of Rahul Tripathi after conceding a boundary in the previous delivery. Tripathi went for the pull but top-edged the ball and keeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz ran forward to his left and finished a catch. And skipper Aiden Markram came to join Brooks.
Meanwhile, Brooks was on his merry way as SRH posted 65 runs in the power-play for the loss of two wickets. After the powerplay, SRH maintained their run-rate as the visitors scored 29 runs off the next overs and were 94-2 after 10 overs.
In the next over, Brooks completed his fifty off 32 balls. Markram then hit the paddle in the 12th over, hitting Suyash Sharma for two sixes and a boundary to accelerate the run rate. He completed his fourth half-century in the next over with a boundary, followed by a brilliant six over deep square leg to Chakaravarthy.
After conceding a boundary and a six, Chakaravarthy was quick to bounce back as he dismissed the SRH skipper on the next ball to end a 72-run partnership for the third wicket. Markram went on a knee to clear the deep midwicket boundary but the ball landed safely into Russell’s hand.
Thereafter, Suyash made a chance to trap Abhishek, who sliced towards deep cover where Shardul attacked the catch but couldn’t control the momentum of the run and the ball burst through his hands.
Brooks started the 15th over with a four towards long-off and survived an lbw call from Gurbaz with an immediate review. He then hit four successive boundaries including a free-hit. He finished the over with a four towards offside, collecting 23 off the over.
While Brooks was looking ominous, Abhishek too was equally impressive with his calculated hits. The duo stitched 72 run partnership for the fourth wicket, which Russell broke in the penultimate over, removing Abhishek for 32.
Soon after dismissing Abhishek, Russell walked off the field with physios help after experiencing cramps and Shardul came into the attack to finish his over. On the third ball of the final, Brooks brought up his maiden IPL century in his debut season. With 71-run coming off the last four overs, SRH posted 228/4 on the board, the season’s highest total.
Brief scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 228/4 in 20 overs (Harry Brooks 100 not out off 55, Aiden Markram 50 off 26; Andre Russell 3/22) against Kolkata Knight Riders.
