IPL 2020 Match Report KKR vs SRH: Lockie Ferguson locks crucial win for Kolkata

Expectedly, there was little to separate the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday’s first match of the IPL in Abu Dhabi. Even before the match, fortunes swang in extremes for both teams in this tournament.

At one stage a chase of 163 looked comfortable for SRH till the last ball when 2 runs were required and David Warner was still batting after hitting previous four balls for 14 runs which included three consecutive fours.

Then, Andre Russell rose to the occasion in the last ball like a hero of Bollywood movies in the 1980s after being beaten blue by the villains. Russell denied the most important run to Warner and SRH and it went to Super Over.

Unmatched brilliance and sensational entry of Ferguson in IPL 2020

New Zealand’s Lockie Ferguson did not play a game in KKR’s last eight matches of the season. In fact, he hadn’t played a match in over 7 months; yet, when he played against Sunrisers, he was at his magnificent best.

SRH had 58 without loss after the power-play overs got over. Ferguson greeted his national captain Kane Williamson by sending him back in his very first ball. Young Priyam Garg wasn’t a big wicket but Manish Pandey’s was and the sight of that dismissal will be used in many promotional videos of IPL in future.

If his outstanding bowling efforts wasn’t sufficient then the Kiwi also displayed his incredible fielding skill when he caught the dangerous looking Abdul Samad(23 run of 15 balls) in the 19th over of the match.

Superman in Super Over

If KKR got another chance in the match, it was largely due to Ferguson’s (4 overs-15 runs and 3 wickets) super show with the ball. This time he did even better in the high-octane Super over responsibility. The moment Ferguson dismissed Warner (a golden duck) and followed it with Samad’s wicket; it was all over for SRH.

The Kiwi was not even required to bowl his six balls.

“It’s nice to be a part of the Super Over, it gives you a glimpse of what the guys are all about; especially in high pressure situations. For Lockie Ferguson to come into his first game of the tournament to perform the way he did in the twenty overs and then in the Super Over, I think he was outstanding. The hunger and the drive he’s shown off the field while waiting for an opportunity is pleasing,” said a much relieved KKR captain Eoin Morgan after the match.

Stats which won’t be mentioned officially

Even though the Super Over effort won’t be counted in Ferguson’s personal stats, it still needs to be highlighted in bold. In any cricket match, it would have been one of the greatest five-wicket hauls as he bowled a total of 27 balls (three in the Super Over). His dismissals included three international players like Williamson, Pandey and Warner and two fine emerging talents of India (Garg and Samad).

“Always getting David Warner, especially at the start of the Super Over was satisfying. It’s great having Morgs(Morgan), we’ve both been part of this. Was good to use his experience. Will take this win, enjoy tonight. It was a tough win on a very tough wicket,” said Ferguson after getting the Man of the Match award.

It was one of those games when the losing captain was left speechless after the result.

“I don't know where to start. That was too good a game,” said Warner after the game.

In case you are still keen to know what else happened

Earlier in the day, SRH won the toss and elected to bowl first. Shubman Gill (37 off 36), Rahul Tripathi (23 off 16), Nitish Rana (29 off 20)in the top order and Morgan (34 off 23) and Karthik (29 off 14) in the lower order helped KKR to post a fighting total.

SRH almost responded in a similar style with Jonny Bairstow (36 off 28) Williamson (29 off 19), Warner (unbeaten 47 off 33) and Samad (23 off 15) tried their best but could not cross the line. Eventually, in a battle of equal forces, Ferguson made the decisive difference by his Super Overs.

(Vimal Kumar is a senior sports journalist who has covered multiple cricket world cups and Rio Olympics in the last two decades. Vimal is also the author of Sachin: Cricketer Of The Century and The Cricket Fanatic’s Essential Guide.)

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