Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Rahul Tripathi enjoyed batting against his old IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders as he smashed a match-winning 71 off 37 balls while chasing a successful 176 at the Brabourne Stadium on Friday night. Tripathi has been instrumental in the revival of SRH after starting IPL 2022 with two consecutive defeats.
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After recording a zero in SRH’s first match of the season, Tripathi recorded scores of 44, 39*, 17* and 71 in his next four innings, winning three of them. With skipper Kane Williamson opening the innings, the 31-year-old has been given the all-important number. 3 places and he has scored 171 runs in the season so far – the highest ever for an SRH batsman.
After Tripathi was declared player of the match for his match-winning contribution with the bat, Tripathi said, “I enjoyed myself today. Time was special with KKR, and now it is special with SRH as well.”
Tripathi then revealed how unwell he was in the lead-up to the competition.
“It has been very special with KKR, and now also with SRH in the last few matches. I have been battling with my health for the past few days and the management has done a great job with me.”
He said, “There are days when things get tough, but I enjoy the hard work and the good days. I am a little nervous before going out to bat, but I am glad that I got this innings today.
KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer heaped praise on Tripathi, saying his team had a change of rhythm despite two initial setbacks. “To be honest, Tripathi came and changed the rhythm and did not let us settle. The credit for the pace at which he played goes to him. We tried to bat well. Had a bad day with the ball,” Iyer said.
SRH will next face Punjab Kings on Sunday.
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