Pathan struck three boundaries and two sixes during his unbeaten knock of 52
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Yusuf Pathan smashed an unbeaten 52 as the Kolkata Knight Riders cruised past the Sunrisers Hyderabad by 22 runs and booked their spot in the IPL playoffs.
Being put in to bat first, the Knight Riders found themselves in a spot of bother when they were reduced to 57/3 in the eighth over.
Pathan and Manish Pandey came to the rescue though as they amassed an 87-run partnership before Pandey was dismissed by Bhuvneshwar Kumar for 48.
Despite Jason Holder and Shakib Al Hasan falling soon after, Pathan ended up scoring 52 off 34 balls, which included three boundaries and two sixes, to lead the Knight Riders to 171/6 off their 20 overs.
Kumar and Deepak Hooda picked up two wickets apiece, while Barinder Sran and Mustafizur Rahman chipped in with one wicket each.
Chasing 172 to win, Sunrisers opener Shikhar Dhawan was the only batsman to have an impact as he scored 51 off 30 deliveries, which included four boundaries and three sixes.
Dhawan’s 51 went in vain
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
With none of the other batsmen able to score 20 runs, the Sunrisers fell well short of their target.
Sunil Narine was the most successful bowler with three wickets, while Kuldeep Yadav snapped up two and Al Hasan and Ankit Rajpoot claimed one wicket each.
Pathan was named Man of the Match.