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Batting first, KKR finished with 187/6 (20). SRH made 177/5 (20).

Player of the match: Nitish Rana

End of match: Sunrisers finish 177/5. Pandey not out 61 (44), Samad 19 (8). It is one of those things that is hard to understand, when a team finishes 10-15 runs short with 5 wickets in hand.

STAT ALERT: A 100th win in IPL for KKR. A good start for them. DreRuss showed again how good a death bowler he is.

End of the match: Manish Pandey hits a six off the last ball, but SRH lose by 10 runs. Not an exaggeration to say Sunrisers lost this because they held Samad back too late.

19.1: Two down the ground. Samad back on strike.

19.2: Round the wicket again from DreRuss, wide. But not given. Hit it perhaps.

19.3: Another top ball, full. Just a single. 19 off 3 balls.

22 needed off 6 balls. DreRuss to Samad.

SRH 166/5 after 19: WOW. Life yet? 6-2-6! Abdul Samad, who should have been batting earlier, hits a first ball six and then picks up another slot ball to send one down the ground. Too late though? Inexplicable call from the SRH dugout. Need 22 off 6.

After 18 overs SRH 150/5: WICKET! Vijay Shankar’s stay in the middle is brief. DreRuss strikes and SRH need 38 off 12 balls now.

After 17 overs SRH 144/4: Samad could have walked in ahead of Shankar but the TN allrounder can clear the fence too. Just needs to keep going hard here. Hits a six off Varun’s last ball, 4-0-36-0 for the spinner.

15.6: WICKET! Nabi is out, going for a slog. No timing on that. Prasidh strikes and the match is slipping away for SRH. Need 57 from 24 balls.

OUCH! Short ball from Prasidh, rises awkwardly and hits Nabi just beneath the helmet on the neck region. That is not a sight any cricket fan wants to see. Horrible, horrible memories. Nabi seems fine here, physio is in the middle. Make those neck guards mandatory, ICC! 126/3 after 15.4 overs, timeout taken.

After 15 overs, SRH 118/3: That’s a good over by Varun. The required rate has shot up to 14.

After 14 overs, SRH 113/3: Manish Pandey into the 40s, with a six off Shakib who finishes with 1/34 in 4 overs. Expensive after a tight first over.

Over 12.6: WICKET! CUMMINS WITH THE BREAKTHROUGH! And given SRH’s middle order worries, that is a big, big wicket. Bairstow gone. Soft dismissal after a superb innings. Cuts it straight to the fielder at point. 102/3.

After 12 overs, SRH 100/2: Good over for SRH, and KKR lose a review as well. DK suggests this LBW appeal is close, Morgan goes for a review because perhaps it is Bairstow. Missing leg.

FIFTY! Jonny Bairstow on the charge in Chennai. Gets to the landmark with a superb pull shot. Picked up the length so quickly as Varun dropped it just short. Half century off 32 balls.

After 11 overs, SRH 89/2: A wayward over from Prasidh, couple of wides and a boundary each for Pandey and Bairstow. The Englishman plays a sensational ramp shot off a short ball for four.

After 10 overs SRH 77/2: Was shaping into a decent over, as one could make out from DK’s cheering in Tamil to Varun, but Bairstow hits a four to keep the rate in check.

Sunrisers need need 119 from 66 balls. Bairstow or bust at the moment, it feels like.

After 9 overs SRH 69/2: A powerful straight drive by Bairstow off Cummins in that over as a timeout is taken. Good recovery by Sunrisers.

After 8 overs SRH 60/2: 4-0-6-0-4! DreRuss into the attack and Bairstow goes hard after him. Targets the leg side, gets lucky with a top edge off the first ball but nails the other two pull shots. 50 partnership comes up after that big over.

After 7 overs SRH 45/2: Shakib has been targeted after that tight first over, this time Manish with a six down the ground.

After 6 overs SRH 35/2: Pat Cummins comes on to bowl the last over of the powerplay and concedes just 3 runs. The powerplay went this way and that but KKR comfortably on top at the moment.

After 5 overs SRH 32/2: Good couple of overs for SRH. Bairstow takes on Shakib and hits a brilliant six over cover, Manish Pandey hits a four over mid-on.

After 4 overs SRH 20/2: Wild throw from Gill, adding to score with four overthrows (and cruelly to bowlers’ column).

After 3 overs SRH 11/2: What a start by Shakib, what a start for KKR.

Over 2.1: WICKET! Shakib al Hasan strikes with his first delivery on return to IPL, on return to KKR, against his former team. Saha plays on, SRH in trouble as both openers are gone. 10/2.

Over 1.3: WICKET! Pat Cummins can breathe easy. The Aussie star dropped a fairly simple catch when David Warner was on zero but the SRH captain is out soon after in the 2nd over. Prasidh strikes. Length ball, looked like perhaps he just rolled his finger across the seam? Unsure. But the hard length is good enough to take the outside edge, DK takes the catch. 10/1.

After 1 over, SRH 8/0: EVENTFUL! Harbhajan should have had the big wicket of Warner on 0. First ball the SRH captain faces, cuts to point. Cummins dives forward, gets to it, but can’t hold on. By his standards, that’s a fairly easy chance. Saha finishes the over with a stunning cover drive for six.

Wriddhiman Saha, who impressed as an opener at the back-end of IPL 2020, is opening with David Warner. Harbhajan Singh, playing his first match for KKR, will start off.

Innings break: Which team will be the happier at the moment? What will David Warner’s approach be? What impact will Harbhajan Singh have at his “home” ground of not-so-distant past? An intriguing second half coming up.

KKR FINISH WITH 187/6

Bhuvneshwar Kumar concedes 16 runs in the last over as Dinesh Karthik hits him for a six and a four. Consolation for Bhuvi as Shakib Al Hasan is dismissed off the last ball.

After 19 overs, KKR are 171/5: Dinesh Karthik hits one straight over for four but a good over by Natarajan nonetheless. Kolkata would want about 15 at least in the last over.

After 17.4 overs, KKR are 160/5: TWO WICKETS IN TWO BALLS! SRH have turned things around brilliantly as Mohammad Nabi gets on a hat-trick. Nitish Rana (80 off 56) and Eoin Morgan (2 off 3) are back in the hut and KKR are struggling in the death overs.

Rashid Khan finishes with brilliant figures of 2/24 from his four overs. Nitish Rana and captain Eoin Morgan are at the crease now.

After 16.2 overs, KKR are 157/3: WICKET! Rashid Khan gets Andre Russell! A superb catch by Manish Pandey at long-on as SRH fight back.

After 15.2 overs, KKR are 146/2: WICKET! Natarajan gets the breakthrough as Tripathi departs. The right-hander mistimed it and Saha completed a good catch. The end of a fantastic second-wicket partnership for KKR as Tripathi walks back for 53 off 29.

After 15 overs, KKR are 145/1: FIFTY for Rahul Tripathi! He gets there in just 28 balls as Bhuvi concedes three fours and a six in his third over. KKR are on fire!

After 14 overs, KKR are 126/1: SIX! Super shot from Rana! Sandeep bowls a full-toss and the left-hander whips it over deep backward square for a maximum. KKR have a lot of firepower to come and will want to get close to 200.

After 13 overs, KKR are 114/1: His third over and Rashid finally concedes a boundary. It was tossed up and Tripathi lifted it straight back for four.

After 12 overs, KKR are 105/1: A four for Rahul Tripathi and a six for Nitish Rana! Expensive over from Nabi. 100-up for KKR and the 50-run partnership up for Rana and Tripathi! The Knight Riders are dominating at the moment.

After 11 overs, KKR are 92/1: SIX! Another pull from Rana and another maximum for him! This time it’s Natarajan who errs in length. The KKR innings is moving along nicely.

After 10 overs, KKR are 83/1: FIFTY for Nitish Rana! The left-hander gets there off 37 balls and with a massive six off Vijay Shankar. He has hit eight fours so far and looked in control at the crease.

After 9 overs, KKR are 69/1: Another quiet over by Rashid Khan, just five runs from it. A brilliant save by Vijay Shankar at the long-on boundary to keep it to two.

After 8 overs, KKR are 64/1: SIX! Rahul Tripathi hits his second ball for a maximum! It was tossed up by Mohammad Nabi and the right-hander had no hesitation in thumping it straight back.

After 7 overs, KKR are 53/1: WICKET! Rashid Khan, you genius! The Afghan superstar bowls a googly and Shubman Gill is clean bowled! There was at least one boundary hit in each of the first six overs. Then Rashid comes on and concedes just three runs in his first over along with the key wicket of Gill. Superb!

After 6 overs, KKR are 50/0: That’s the end of the powerplay... a solid one for KKR. Nabi joins the attack and Rana sweeps him past short-fine for four. The left-hander has raced to 36 off 25.

After 5 overs, KKR are 45/0: What a shot from Gill! Natarajan pitches it on a length and the right-hander drives it straight over for six. Rana then hoicks one on the leg side for four.

After 4 overs, KKR are 33/0: Three more fours for Rana! The left-hander decides to go after Sandeep and finds the boundaries. Big over that, 14 runs from it.

After 3 overs, KKR are 19/0: All class from Gill! Bhuvi attacks the stumps and the right-hander clips it through mid-wicket and mid-on for four. Rana then fails to read a slower ball but Samad decides not to put in the dive for the catch running in from mid-on.

After 2 overs, KKR are 13/0: Two fours for Rana in that over! The first one was an inside edge to fine-leg but the next one was thumped over mid-off.

After 1 over, KKR are 4/0: Bhuvi pitches the first ball full and a bit wide, Rana leans forward and drives it for four. But the senior pacer comes back brilliantly to bowl five dot balls.

7.30 pm: We’re ready for play in Chennai! Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana are at the crease. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has the new ball in hand. Here we go!

Playing XIs

Kolkata Knight Riders: Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan (c), Dinesh Karthik (w), Andre Russell, Shakib Al Hasan, Pat Cummins, Harbhajan Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (c), Jonny Bairstow, Wriddhiman Saha (w), Manish Pandey, Vijay Shankar, Abdul Samad, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Sandeep Sharma.

7.04 pm: Foreign players playing tonight

SRH: David Warner, Jonny Bairstow, Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi (no Kane Williamson).
KKR: Eoin Morgan, Pat Cummins, Andre Russell, Shakib Al Hasan.

7.00 pm: TOSS – David Warner has won the toss and SRH will bowl first!

6.45 pm: Hello and welcome to live coverage of match No 3 of Indian Premier League 2021. Tonight, David Warner’s Sunrisers Hyderabad take on Eoin Morgan’s Kolkata Knight Riders at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

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