Muzarabani on the rampage in IPL

BLESSING Muzarabani claimed an IPL career-best four wickets turning out for Kolkata Knight Riders against Sunrisers Hyderabad at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday. The Zimbabwe and Takashinga Cricket Club quick struck twice in the ninth over after his captain Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and elected to field. Muzarabani claimed his first wicket in the ninth over, having Hyderabad captain Ishan Kishan caught by Rinku Singh at deep cover point. Hyderabad had used the powerplay well, and Kishan’s dismissal left them 111/2 after 8.2 overs. Two deliveries later the Zimbabwe and Takashinga Cricket Club seamer struck again, this time getting Abhishek Sharma caught at deep square leg by Varun Chakravarthy for 48 to make it 112/3 after 8.4 overs. He returned to take two more in the last over for the dismissal of Heinrich Klaasen, caught for 52 by Ramandeep Singh and Shivang Kumar caught by Rahane off the final ball. He finished with four for 41 in four overs. Vaibhav Arora picked up two, while Anukul Roy and Kartik Tyagi took one each for Riders as Sunrisers Hyderabad finished 226/8. Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Rahane said it was one bad day for his side. “Yeah, I thought we needed a couple of big partnerships. Guys who were set needed to take it deep. With the ball I thought we came back really well. In the chase you need that partnership, but we didn’t get it. Second innings I felt the ball was stopping a bit, slower balls gripped more than in the first innings. We thought the wicket would get better but it got slower. SRH used slower balls and their angles really well. Winning at home is important, so we’ll go back and look at our combination, maybe an extra batter. No excuses, it was just one bad day.” Muzarabani was rested during Kolkata’s chase, replaced by impact sub Finn Allen. Allen scored 28 opening with Rahane (8). Angkrish Raghuvanshi top-scored with 52 and Rinku Singh made 35 before Kolkata were bowled out for 161 in 18.4 overs. Jaydev Unadkat was the pick of Hyderabad’s bowlers with 3 for 21 in three overs; Eshan Malinga and Nitish Kumar Reddy took two apiece.