[Watch] Tim Southee takes a brilliant catch on follow through to dismiss SRH's Rahul Tripathi
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) fast bowler Tim Southee grabbed a brilliant reflex catch to dismiss Sunrisers Hyderabad's (SRH) Rahul Tripathi at the MCA Stadium in Saturday's IPL 2022 fixture.
The incident took place in the ninth over of the match when Tripathi tried to unleash a straight drive off the experienced Kiwi pacer. The Hyderabad batter didn't try to keep the ball down and played it with hard hands.
The ball was traveling at a rapid pace but Tim Southee put his hand out to grab the catch out of nowhere. Southee went to his left to catch the ball just above his shoulders. It was a brilliant reflex catch from the KKR bowler.
Watch Southee's catch below:
Chasing 178 runs, SRH openers Kane Williamson and Abhishek Sharma got their team off to a steady start. However, Kolkata pegged them back in the final over of the powerplay when Andre Russell dismissed the Hyderabad captain.
Abhishek continued to accumulate runs at a brisk pace before Pat Cummins' brilliance halted Hyderabad's run flow. KKR banked on the momentum to get a couple of more wickets in quick succession.
SRH will now rely on all-rounder Washington Sundar to bat deep if they have to chase down the total.
"We got a bit extra and that is a bonus" - Andre Russell after an unbeaten 49 vs SRH
Since 2019, Russell has a 180+ IPL strike-rate. No other #KKR batter, barring Narine, has over 140 SR facing a decent number of balls.
Insane how year after year KKR mess up in the auctions in backing up a giant like Russell in that batting line-up.
#KKRvsSRH
After a bright start from Ajinkya Rahane and Nitish Rana, the Knight Riders suffered a collapse and were reduced to 94/5. However, Russell and Sam Billings stitched a much-needed 63-run partnership to take the total in excess of 150 runs.
The West Indian scored 20 runs off SRH's final over to take the total to 177 runs. Russell, who remained unbeaten on 49 off 28 deliveries, stated that they have a good total on the board to win the game.
Speaking at the end of KKR's innings, Andre Russell said:
"It is good to finish strong. They were bowling very well, the seamers were hitting the yorkers. I was a bit miserable but I said let's just stick with it since I know if I stay till the end, we can get 170. We got a bit extra and that is a bonus."
He added:
"It (total) looks good based on how it's (pitch) playing but it's not playing as good as it looks. 170 is definitely a good score. It is holding a bit but we have to bowl well and bowl good areas. Once we bowl hard length with not much room and change our pace... the bowlers Umesh, Southee and myself, we are definitely going back ourselves and we have two top-class spinners too."
It's a must-win game for Kolkata as they aim to keep their chances of making it to the IPL 2022 playoffs afloat.