As a match, the Kolkata Knight Riders versus Sunrisers Hyderabad encounter never reached any great heights. Batting first the underperforming Hyderabad team continued to underperform with a patchy and unsatisfactory 115 for 8. Kane Williamson was the top-scorer with 26. A total of this smallness was never going to test the all-guns-blazing Kolkata batsmen --- even though SRH had actually defended the same score three years back against MI. But SRH bowlers bowled with lot of heart especially the under fire Bhuvanesh Kumar. KKR found going tough and slow, but Shubman Gill finally found some form and patiently piloted his team to close to victory target while Dinesh Karthik gave the finishing touches. For SRH, the net bowler turned regular bowler Umran Malik was impressive. His pace and bounce disconcerted all batsmen. Malik, who had traveled to UAE as a net bowler but made it to the side because T Natarajan tested positive for Covid, may be one for the future. KKR with a better run-rate is currently ahead of the other teams vying for the fourth playoffs slot in the table. But you never know.