In a high-scoring game, Brook turned out to be the star with the bat as the English batting sensation slammed a 55-ball hundred as SRH posted a mammoth 228 for four after being put in to bat first.
KKR skipper Nitish Rana and man of the moment Rinku Singh slammed brilliant fifties and helped their team to go past the 200-run mark in the big run chase but they couldn’t finish the game this time around.
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KKR reached 205 for 7 in 20 overs in pursuit of a huge 229-run target. With this win, Aiden Markram-led Sunrisers Hyderabad cantered to their second victory in IPL 2023. Markram led his team from the front with the bat.
Harry Brook IPL 2023 Highest Score
Brook, who was roped in after his exploits in Pakistan, finally announced his arrival in style, when he smashed four fours and two sixes inside the first three overs to give SRH the best start of the season.
Bought by SRH for a whopping Rs 13.25 crore, Brook had managed only 29 in the first three games but found his rhythm with a 55-ball-100 as he smashed 12 fours and three sixes. This was the 16th edition’s first century.
Nitish Rana & Rinku Singh Shine In IPL 2023 Run Chase Vs SRH
In reply, it was always going to be difficult for KKR to maintain a run rate of 11 plus per over but skipper Rana (75 off 41 balls) did launch into SRH bowlers with half a dozen sixes and had ‘Man of the Moment’ Rinku Singh (58 not out off 31 balls) for company in their 69-run stand in just 6.2 overs. This was after KKR were reduced to 96 for 5 within the first 10 overs.
Once T Natarajan got rid of Rana, it was left to Rinku to pull off yet another heist as 57 were needed off the last three overs. But Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/29 in 4 overs) gave 10 in the 18th over while Natarajan (1/54 in 4 overs) went for 16 in the penultimate over.
With Rinku on strike and 32 needed off last over, Umran Malik (1/36 in 2 overs) came back well to dismiss Shardul Thakur with the first delivery and effectively sealing the game as the southpaw was stranded at the other end for the first two deliveries.
Rinku faced four balls but Umran Malik – who went for 28 runs in his first over of the match to Rana – bowled fast and full to keep him under check with only eight runs being conceded.
Brook ‘Bonds’ with SRH philosophy
Earlier, having got a reprieve on 45, when he was dropped by rookie leg-spinner Suyash Sharma an easy chance off his own bowling, Brook got to his 50 off 32 balls.
Brook also overturned a caught-behind decision off Lockie Ferguson when on 61, as he hammered the Kiwi fiery pacer in the same over five fours, en route to the first century of the season, which came off a single off Umesh Yadav in the final over.
Opted to bowl, KKR fielding was also a big letdown as Skipper Aiden Markram also played an impactful innings in the middle when he raced to a 26-ball fifty as the duo stitched together 72 runs from 47 balls.
After Markram’s departure, young left-handed batter Abhishek Sharma (32; 17b) gave a fine support as the duo also added 72 runs (33b) to pile on KKR’s misery. Heinrich Klaasen then played a cameo of 16 not out in six balls as SRH dished out a superlative batting display after KKR opted to bowl.
Barring Sunil Narine (4-0-28-0) and Andre Russell (2.1-0-22-3) who pulled a muscle and could not complete his overs, none of the KKR bowlers failed to impress.
The day fully belonged to the English batter, who carried his bat replicating his success in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he had scored 264 runs for Lahore Qalandars in eight innings, which included a century, at a strike rate of 171.4 in 2022 edition.
