IPL 2019, SRH vs KKR, Match 38: Warner, Bairstow fifties cruise Hyderabad to 9-wicket win

With the win, SRH jumped to the fourth spot with 10 points from nine matches while KKR remain on the sixth spot with eight points from 10 games

Jonny Bairstow and David Warner continued their stellar run at the top as they powered Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to a nine-wicket win over struggling Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in an IPL encounter here Sunday. Chasing a target of 160, Warner struck 67 off 38 balls hitting three fours and five sixes while Englishman Bairstow punished the hapless KKR attack with seven boundaries and four maximums in his unbeaten knock of 80 off 43 balls. The openers looked in command as the target was achieved in 15 overs largely due to their 131-run stand. This was KKR's fifth successive loss in the tournament.

David Warner's scintillating 67 (38) https://t.co/OZrqDm9e3d

— Aakash Biswas (@aami_aakash) April 21, 2019

This is the fourth time that the opening partnership of Warner and Bairstow paved the way for a Sunrisers victory this season. The duo had guided SRH to victories against Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals in a similar fashion.

Jonny Bairstow mauls KKR https://t.co/VNzypX7UJY

— Aakash Biswas (@aami_aakash) April 21, 2019

KKR were sloppy in the field and ended up paying heavily for their mistakes. Bairstow was dropped twice, once on 5 by Cariappa off debutant Prithviraj's delivery in the second over and then again on 58 by Piyush Chawla off Sunil Narine. Prithvi (1/29) got the only breakthrough for KKR dismissing the threatening Australian but it was a little too late as the hosts needed just 29 runs off 40 balls. With the win, SRH jumped to the fourth spot with 10 points from nine matches while KKR remain on the sixth spot with eight points from 10 games. Earlier, young left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed grabbed three wickets in an impressive spell. The 21-year-old speedster removed Sunil Narine (25 off 7 balls), who was looking dangerous in his first spell and then came back to dismiss Shubman Gill (3) and Chris Lynn (51) in his corresponding spells to keep KKR in check. Senior pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar returned with the figures of 2/35 while leg-spinner Rashid Khan (1/23) and seamer Sandeep Sharma (1/37) took a wicket apiece with the Sunrisers' bowlers making life difficult for the KKR batsmen. For KKR, Lynn was the top-scored with a dogged 47-ball 51. Rinku Singh was the other notable contributor with a 25-ball 30. Rinku and Lynn shared a 51-run stand for the fifth wicket to stabilise the innings before Sandeep Sharma dismissed the 21-year-old Indian. Big-hitter Andre Russel scored 15 off 9 balls.