Harry Brook happy to shut Indian fans with "Player of the match" performance vs KKR

Harry Brook had scored 13, 3 and 13 in his previous three knocks for SRH before scoring a century tonight.

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) clashed in the 19th match of the IPL 2023. at the scenic Eden Gardens in Kolkata on April 14, 2023. KKR captain Nitish Rana won the toss and chose to bowl first. While KKR came in unchanged, SRH brought in Abhishek Sharma as their only change.

Harry Brook silenced his detractors after three disappointing performances with an incredible 100* for SRH (12 fours and 3 sixes). SRH reached 228/4 in 20 overs, as captain Aiden Markram scored 50 in 26 balls with 2 fours and 5 sixes, Abhishek Sharma made 32 in 17 balls, and Heinrich Klaasen made 16* in 6 balls. For KKR, Andre Russell took 3/22.

In response, N Jagadeesan scored 36 in 21 balls with 5 fours and 1 six, and Nitish Rana led the KKR chase with 75 in 41 balls with 6 sixes and 5 fours. However, Mayank Markande (2/27) and Marco Jansen (2/37) made sure that none of the other risky batters could.

Rinku Singh made a valiant 58* in 31 balls with 4 sixes and 4 fours, but KKR could only make 205/7 and lost the match by 23 runs, giving SRH their second win in four matches.

Player of the Match Harry Brook said: “Was A Special Night. Thankfully We Got Over The Line As Well. Got A Little Tense In The Middle. A Lot Of People Say That Opening The Batting In T20 Is The Best Time To Bat. I'm Happy To Bat Anywhere. I've Had A Lot Of Success Batting At Five. Made My Name There. My Four Test Hundreds Will Have To Be Over This One. The Crowd Was Phenomenal Tonight. I Enjoyed It. I Was Putting Pressure On Myself A Little Bit. You Go On Social Media And People Are Calling You Rubbish. There's A Lot Of Indian Fans Out There Who'll Say Well Done Tonight. But They Were Slagging Me Off A Few Days Ago. Glad I Could Shut Them Up To Be Honest.”

Top-class innings from Harry Brook: Nitish Rana

Nitish Rana was disappointed with the outcome for the KKR side and partially blamed the bowlers for not bowling according to the plans. However, he was fully appreciative of England’s Harry Brook who slammed an amazing unbeaten century.

Rana said at the post-match presentation: “Thanks For The Compliments On The Run Chase. I Feel The Way We Bowled Was Not According To The Plans. No Matter What The Wicket Was Like, This Wasn’t A 230 Wicket. One Odd Day You’ll Get An Innings Like Rinku Had The Other Day, But Not Everyday.

We Batted Really Well, We Wanted To Take The Game Deep And Then You Never Know. Home Advantage Is One Thing, But We Know Eden Gardens Tracks Always Play This Way, We Expected 200 To Be A Par Score Here And Have Been Preparing That Way, But We Need To Bowl Better. Today, Even The Main Bowlers Were Going For Runs But I Can’t Be Too Critical Because These Are The Same Bowlers Who Will Win Me A Game Some Other Time. Very Happy With The Fight We Showed But Would Have Loved It More If We Got Two Points As Well.”

Now the KKR will travel to Mumbai to face Mumbai Indians in a day game on Sunday, April 16.

We all know Harry Brook - his ability we have seen - SRH captain Aiden Markram

On the other hand, SRH captain Aiden Markram was all upbeat with his team getting a win after consecutive losses and lauded Harry Brook for his unbeaten ton and Bhuvneshwar Kumar for being the Mr. Reliable.

“Feels Good Winning Away From Home. Was Always Going To Be A Tight Game. With Their Firepower We Knew The Total Wasn't Safe. Our Bowlers Showed Character. I Was Fortunate That We Got Off To A Great Start. Makes Life Easier. We Bat Quite Deep So You Get The Freedom. We All Know Harry - His Ability We Have Seen. Giving A Player Like That The Time To Face A Lot Of Balls. He's Mr. Reliable For Sure (Bhuvi). Certainly Helps The Dressing Room. It's A Great Bunch Of Guys. It's Cricket At The End Of The Day, Always Going To Teach You A Lesson,” Aiden Markram said.

SRH will next face Mumbai Indians on April 18 at home in Hyderabad.