Chris Dhambarage
COLOMBO – Harry Brooke struck the first hundred in the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) as Sunrisers Hyderabad cruised to a convincing 23-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their Twenty20 match played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Friday.
The 24-year-old Englishman finally delivered a masterclass innings after three unsuccessful attempts by stroking an unbeaten 100 which helped his team amass a formidable 228 for four wickets – the highest score by a visiting team at Eden gardens.
The dashing right-hander from Yorkshire, dropped anchor from the start and carried his bat throughout the innings after they had been put into bat.
Brooke took up the challenge against the Sunrisers bowlers as he raced to a 32-ball half century with the aid of two sixes and five boundaries.
He also added 72 runs for the third wicket along with Skipper Aiden Markram, who plundered exactly 50 from just 26 deliveries inclusive of five sixes and two boundaries.
However, Brooke held on determinedly and went on to reach the three-figure mark in the last over of the innings from 55 balls and studded with three sixes and 12 boundaries.
South Africa wicket-keeper batsman Heinrich Classen joined the party by hoisting one six and stroking two boundaries during his unbeaten 16 runs from only six deliveries as the Sunrisers collected a staggering 94 runs from the last six overs.
In reply, KKR, chasing the highest total this season, were under pressure from the start as they slumped to 20 for three by the fourth over after South African left-armer Marco Jansen struck twice in successive deliveries.
KKR made a brief recovery during the middle overs with Skipper Nitish Rana leading the way by stroking a fighting 75 from 41 balls inclusive of six sixes and five boundaries.
However, KKR were always behind the required run-rate and never looked like getting closer to their opponents total despite a late flurry of runs from the inform batsman Rinku Singh, who hammered an unbeaten 58 from just 31 deliveries.
Chief scores
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 228/4 in 20 overs (Harry Brooke 100 n.o, Aiden Markram 50, Abhishek Sharma 32, Andre Russell 3/22)
Kolkata Knight Riders: 205/7 in 20 overs (Narayan Jagadeesan 36, Nitish Rana 75, Rinku Singh 58 n.o, Marco Jansen 2/37, Mayank Markande 2/27).
