Dhaka – Bangladesh Test and T20 captain Shakib Al Hasan’s Sunrisers Hyderabad conceded a six-wicket defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders in their first match of the Indian Premier League at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday.
With the match, world-famed all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan returned to the competitive cricket after a long layoff due to a finger injury which he sustained during the final of the last edition of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).
Sunrisers picked up Shakib in their first encounter of the season against Kolkata Knight Riders at Shakib’s old home at Eden Gardens. Before the match, Shakib rang the historic bail of the Eden Gardens. He got the honour in his 32nd birthday.
In the final of the last BPL, Shakib suffered a blow on his hand while batting for Dhaka Dynamites. Due to that injury, he missed the entire series in New Zealand. There was a talk about his taking part in the last Test of New Zealand series, but he failed to get back the required fitness. However, the Test was also called off due to the terror attack in Christchurch.
The all-rounder marked his comeback day with a wicket in the first over he bowled. He scalped the wicket of Chris Lynn for seven.
The right-handed Australian batsman tried to shot through the long-on area, but Shakib delivered an arm-ball and Lynn mishit it to the mid-off where Rashid Khan took one of the simple catches in the IPL history.
However, Shakib failed to live up to the expectations in his first match of this year’s IPL as Sunireisers lost the first match to Kolkata by six wickets. Kolkata needed 34 in the last two overs to chase the target of 182 runs successfully as the Hyderabad posted 181/3 while batting first. Bhuvneshwar Kumar conceded 21 runs in the 19th over.
Explosive Andre Russell hit two fours and two sixes in the 19th over. Later, the onus was on Shakib to defend 13 runs in the last over but he disappointed. Nineteen-year-old Shubman Gill hit Shakib for two sixes in the final over to win the game with two balls to play (183/4 in 19.4 overs). Shakib ended up his bowling conceding 42 runs in 3.4 overs.UNB
