Hyderabad, May 3 (IANS) Varun Chakaravarthy led a strong bowling effort as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) bowled out Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for 165 in 19 overs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Sunday, despite a blazing start from the openers.

Batting first after winning the toss, SRH got off to a flying start with Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head attacking from the very beginning. KKR opened with Sunil Narine, but the move did not work as SRH collected nine runs from the first over.

Travis Head then took charge in the second over, hitting Vaibhav Arora for four boundaries, while Abhishek rotated the strike well. SRH raced to 37 runs by the end of the third over.

KKR got their first breakthrough in the fourth over when Karthik Tyagi dismissed Abhishek Sharma for 15 off 10 balls. The left-hander hit a four and a six before getting caught at mid-wicket.

Head continued his aggressive approach, smashing three consecutive fours off Cameron Green in the next over. Ishan Kishan also joined the attack, hitting a four and a six in the final over of the powerplay as SRH reached 71/1 after six overs.

Head brought up his fifty in just 22 balls with a six off Varun Chakaravarthy. However, KKR slowly started to apply pressure, with Vaibhav conceding just five runs in the next over.

Kishan tried to keep the momentum going with two boundaries off Varun, but Head was dismissed soon after. He was caught at deep mid-wicket by Cameron Green while attempting another big shot. Head scored a quick 61 off 28 balls, hitting nine fours and three sixes.

KKR tightened their grip further when Cameron Green dismissed Heinrich Klaasen, who managed only 11 runs off eight balls, thanks to a fine catch by Rovman Powell.

Debutant Smaran Ravichandran failed to make an impact and was dismissed by Varun while trying to go for a big shot. Varun struck again in his next over, removing Aniket Verma as SRH began to lose wickets quickly.

Ishan Kishan held one end and kept scoring, but his innings ended on the last ball of the 16th over when Sunil Narine claimed his wicket, also reaching 200 IPL wickets in the process. Kishan scored 42 off 29 balls, including four boundaries and two sixes.

The collapse continued as Pat Cummins was dismissed by Anukul Roy, who took a good return catch. Vaibhav Arora then removed Shivam in the next over.

Kartik Tyagi wrapped up the innings by dismissing Harshal Patel in the 19th over.

Varun Chakaravarthy was the standout bowler for KKR, finishing with figures of 3/36 in four overs. Karthik Tyagi and Sunil Narine picked up two wickets each, while Cameron Green, Vaibhav Arora, and Anukul Roy chipped in with one wicket apiece.

Brief Scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 165/10 runs in 19 overs (Travis Head 61, Ishan Kishan 42; Varun Chakaravarthy 3-36, Kartik Tyagi 2-30, Sunil Narine 2-31) against Kolkata Knight Riders.

–IANS

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