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IPL PHOTOS: Hyderabad Sunrisers vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Sunrisers Hyderabad made it to the play-offs of the Indian Premier League. scoring a tense five-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders in Uppal on Sunday.
In the process, they knocked Royal Challengers Bangalore out.
Chasing 131 in a must-win match, Hyderabad overhauled the target with seven balls to spare, taking their points tally to 20, which placed them fourth in the table.
Openers Parthiv Patel and Shikhar Dhawan gave them a tremendous start, putting on 89 runs for the opening wicket.
Earlier, Knight Riders won the toss and elected to bat first on the slow Hyderabad pitch.
Kolkata Knight Riders' co-owner Juhi Chawla was present to lift the team's morale but it didn't help much.
The hosts also had popular faces in the stands to cheer the team.
Pathan's calculative 49 run knock helped KKR
With eyes on a play-offs berth, Sunrisers Hyderabad bowlers exploited the conditions well to restrict Kolkata Knight Riders to a modest 130 for seven.
Yusuf Pathan, with his calculative 49-run knock off 29 balls, gave Kolkata something to fight for. Jacques Kallis (24) was the other notable contributor.
Getting runs was hard work on the slow wicket
At half way mark, KKR were 56 for two. Getting runs was hard work on the slow wicket and Karan Sharma piled on KKR's agony by trapping Eoin Morgan (9).
Hyderabad's spinners tested the rival batsmen. Both Amit Mishra and Sharma bowled a probing line and had Morgan and Kallis in a fix.
Batting exhibition
The Sunrisers Hyderabad openers, Shikhar Dhawan and Parthiv Patel, put up a batting exhibition.
Parthiv was the aggressor to start off with, before Dhawan exploded on the KKR bowlers.
But Dhawan (42), who was been batting well, tried to play a reverse sweep, missed and umpire Asad Rauf had little trouble in raising his finger.
Sunrisers make it to the play-offs
The cheerleaders had plenty to cheer about.
Sunrisers Hyderabad made it the play-offs courtesy two huge sixes from Darren Sammy that sealed the issue for the hosts.
Iqbal Abdulla kept the game alive by picking quick wickets, but Sammy knocked off the remaining runs with two huge sixes.