Brook's unbeaten century gives Sunrisers enough to trump Knight Riders

Harry Brook put behind a string of low scores with an unbeaten 55-ball 100 that included imperious hitting against pace and calculated strike rotation against spin. Aiden Markram was equally destructive, scoring 50 off 26 balls, as Sunrisers Hyderabad posted 228 for 4, the highest total of IPL 2023 so far.

In response, Kolkata Knight Riders were 96 for 5 in the 11th over and in need of a miracle for the third game in a row. Nitish Rana's 41-ball 75 kept their hopes alive, and with 58 required from the last three overs, they had Rinku Singh and Shardul Thakur - their miracle-makers from the previous two games - in the middle. Rinku fought hard with an unbeaten 58 off 31 but this time, it wasn't to be.

Coming into this game, Brook had 29 runs in three innings at a strike rate of 74.35. But one felt it was only a matter of time before he stepped up. On Friday, he started by hitting the first ball of the innings, bowled by Umesh Yadav, through the covers for four. He picked up two more fours in the over, pulling and scooping the bowler with little fuss.

Against Lockie Ferguson, he exposed his stumps and dispatched a slow full toss to the cover boundary. He used the same strategy in Umesh's next over with even better returns - two back-to-back sixes. Thanks to Brook, Sunrisers raced to 43 for no loss in three overs.

Andre Russell hadn't bowled this season so far, but it took him just one ball to make an impact. While Brook seemed unstoppable, Mayank Agarwal was struggling. Russell ended his agony by having him caught at short third for 9 off 13 balls. Rahul Tripathi hit a couple of fours but ended up top-edging a pull on the last ball of the over, giving Russell his second wicket.

In their spinners, Knight Riders found a way to keep Brook quiet. In the first six overs of the innings, Brook had smashed five fours and two sixes. In the next eight - seven of which were bowled by the spinners - he didn't find a single boundary, and instead focused on rotating the strike.

That, though, didn't mean Knight Riders could breathe easy. Markram took the baton and ransacked 42 off 22 balls against the spinners. He was severe on Suyash Sharma, in particular, taking him for two sixes and a four in the 12th over of the innings. In the next over, he hit successive balls from Varun Chakravarthy for a four and a six, the second shot bringing up his half-century off 25 balls. He tried to go big on the next ball as well but holed out at deep midwicket.

In the 15th over, Knight Riders re-introduced seam in the form of Ferguson. And Brook was back hitting boundaries, sending the bowler for four fours and a six in a 23-run over. Abhishek Sharma, meanwhile, took over Markram's role and looted 32 off 16 against spin. He didn't even spare Sunil Narine, hitting him for a four and a six in the 17th over. Those were the only two boundaries Narine conceded in his 4-0-28-0. Abhishek faced just one ball of pace, and was out on that.

Brook kept picking up the occasional boundary, and moved to 95 off 52 with one over left. He was tiring by then but found just enough energy to hobble a couple of twos and a single to bring up his hundred.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar dealt Knight Riders an early blow when Rahmanullah Gurbaz sliced the third ball of the chase to deep third. In the fourth over, Marco Jansen dented them further by removing Venkatesh Iyer and Narine off successive deliveries. Iyer, who came in as Impact Player for Suyash, hit a couple of boundaries before miscuing one to Markram at mid-on. Narine was cramped for room and was also taken at mid-on, leaving Knight Riders 20 for 3.

It looked like Knight Riders would surrender without a fight, but their captain Rana resuscitated the chase. In the sixth over, he hit Umran Malik for 4, 6, 4, 4, 4, 6. Not every shot came off the middle of the bat, but the 28-run over helped Knight Riders end the powerplay on a solid 62 for 3.

N Jagadeesan gave Rana good support with his 36 off 21 before Mayank Markande had him caught at deep midwicket. Russell, who had walked off twice during the first innings with cramps, didn't last long either, holing out in the legspinner's next over.

At that stage, Knight Riders needed 133 in 9.5 overs. Rana and Rinku kept the fight on, adding 69 in 6.2 overs for the sixth wicket. The pair was also helped by some lapses in the field - both Rana and Rinku were dropped once each, and later, Thakur was dropped twice.

With 70 needed from 23 balls, Rana got two full tosses in a row from T Natarajan. He smashed the first one for a six but ended up hitting the second to sweeper cover, where Washington Sundar held on to the chance.

Rinku hit three fours off Natarajan in the 19th over to reduce the equation to 32 needed off six, but as Rana himself said after the game, miracles don't happen every game.