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Andre Russell's all-round brilliance theoretically kept Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in contention for a play-off berth as they recorded a comprehensive 54- run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in a must-win IPL game on Saturday.
It was Russell's unbeaten 49 off 28 balls that took KKR to 177 for six in 20 overs after being down and out at 94 for 5.
In reply, SRH were never in the hunt as they huffed and puffed their way to 123 for 8 against a collective bowling effort from Shreyas Iyer's men with the flamboyant Jamaican finishing with best figures of 3 for 22.
Meanwhile, SRH skipper Kane Williamson rued team's flop show and said the game teaches us lessons and he is learning it right now.
"I mean largely the first half was good. Russell is always a threat. Showed his class. We tried to create partnerships but KKR were really good. We have been struggling with creating momentum in the last few games. Sundar stepped up in the last over. Using our resources a little early didn't work for us today. We wanted to get off to a good start. We wanted to get some momentum. There were glimpses and signs but wasn't to be. The run rate got up and we were not able to pull it back. The game teaches us lessons and I am learning it right now," Williamson said.
While he is a sentimental favourite among Indian cricket lovers, a lot of SRH's poor batting show could be attributed to skipper Kane Williamson's nightmarish season that has yielded only 208 runs in 12 games at an average of less than 19 and a strike-rate of 92.85.
Williamson (9 off 17 balls) has been SRH's weakest link this season and his failure at the top of the order has been one of the biggest reasons for their slump.
It was an ordeal for Williamson till Russell bowled one on the stumps to end his misery. Rahul Tripathi (9 off 1 balls) also looked scratchy even as Abhishek Sharma (43 off 28 balls) attacked Sunil Narine, hitting him for two sixes.
KKR now have 12 points from 13 games with a net run-rate of +0.160 and moved to sixth place.
With Rajasthan Royals (14 from 12) and RCB (14 from 13 games) having chance to move up, even a victory is unlikely to be enough for Shah Rukh Khan owned franchise which played its 13th 'first XI' combination in as many games.
For Sunrisers, 10 points from 12 games with a dismal NRR of -0.270 means that even two big wins and 14 points might not be enough after five straight defeats.
