Kolkata Knight Riders made a winning start to their IPL 2021 season as they defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by 10 runs in the third game of the competition. A sensational overall display saw Eoin Morgan’s team get over the line in a tight encounter. Nitish Rana and Rahul Tripathi were the stars with the bat as both scored half-centuries as KKR posted a match-winning score on the board. IPL 2021 Points Table Updated: KKR Move to Second.

After winning the toss, David Warner asked Kolkata Knight Riders to bat first and the two-time champions were given a brilliant start by their openers. A partnership between Nitish Rana and Rahul Tripathi saw them take a foothold in the game and after a blip, Dinesh Karthik’s cameo took KKR to a massive score. Kolkata Knight Riders Beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 10 Runs.

Chasing the target, Sunrisers Hyderabad never looked comfortable, losing their openers for cheap in the powerplay. Jonny Bairstow and Manish Pandey got them back into the game but eventually, the run-rate proved too much for SRH players to catch up to. Meanwhile, here are some stat highlights from SRH vs KKR IPL 2021 clash.

# KKR become the first team to win a game batting first this season

# Harbhajan Singh made his debut for KKR

# This was Harbhajan Singh’s first IPL game in 699 days

# Nitish Rana scored his 12th IPL Fifty

# This was Nitish Rana's third fifty in his last six IPL games, the other three scores have been ducks

# Rahul Tripathi registered his 6th half-century in the competition

# Manish Pandey brought up his 19th fifty in the Indian Premier League

# Jonny Bairstow scored his 6th fifty in the Indian Premier League

With this win, Kolkata Knight Riders moved to second in the points table juts behind Delhi Capitals on the basis of net run rate. They will look to continue their run against record champions Mumbai Indians who have lost their opening game. Meanwhile, Sunrisers Hyderabad will look to bounce back against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 11, 2021 11:28 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).