IPL 2021: KKR vs SRH: The numbers that stand out

While Rahul Tripathi had to walk back to the pavilion after his 29-ball 5, Rana stuck around until the 18^th over and departed after scoring 80 runs.

Andre Russell came, Andre Russell went. Eoin Morgan came, Eoin Morgan went. Dinesh Karthik came, Dinesh Karthik saw, Dinesh Karthik smashed.

Thanks to his 9-ball 22, KKR finished on a high after being momentarily stuck in a quagmire. Ultimately, DK's innings proved to be the difference.

Sunrisers Hyderabad lost Wriddhiman Saha and captain Warner pretty early in the run-chase which deflated their hopes.

Though Jonny Bairstow, helped by Manish Pandey came close to bringing SRH back into the game, Pat Cummins struck at the right time to dismiss the partnership and seal the fate of the game.

A few late blows from Abdul Samad caused a few signs of worry, but DK's late blast in the first innings and Andre Russell's confident finish in the final over ensured that KKR would win their IPL 2021 season opener with aplomb.

Along the way, several records, and numbers were registered. We list several of those here.

Can't be a coincidence, can it?

Nitish Rana's last six innings in the IPL share an uncanny pattern, almost too precise to be true.

0(1), 81(53),0(1), 87(61), 0(1), 80(56).

Now we're not suggesting that Nitish Rana is going to get out on a first-ball duck in the very next match, all we're saying is if he fails to fetch points on fantasy cricket in his next match, we told you so.

50s in the top-5 batting slots

Also, Nitish Rana became only the third batsman after Rohit Sharma and Shane Watson to make an IPL fifty from all the top five batting positions.

Harbhajan Singh still striding at 40

Veteran spinner Harbhajan Singh made several records during the night. When everyone was expecting Pat Cummins to open the bowling for KKR, out came Bhajji with the ball.

Including the game against SRH on April 11, Harbhajan Singh has opened the bowling 36 times in the IPL and no other spinner has done it more often than him. Ravichandran Ashwin, with 33 instances comes next on the list.

Bhajji's IPL trophy connect

Marking his KKR debut, Harbhajan Singh also became the first cricketer to play for Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders, the only teams in the IPL who have won multiple titles.

David Warner's IPL blues

In his last two innings, David Warner scored 3 runs against KKR and 2 runs against DC.

This is the first time in his Sunrisers Hyderabad career that he got dismissed for a single-digit score in back-to-back innings.

The last time it had happened for him in the IPL was back in 2013, way before he joined the Orange Army. Warner's one consistent lad, isn't he?

Can't be a coincidence, can it? Part 2

On 11^th April 2011, Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Deccan Chargers by 9 runs. Exactly 10 years later, they defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by 10 runs.

What makes this fact wilder is that the last ball in both the matches were hit for a six with the outcome of the match being a foregone conclusion.

Whenever Manish Pandey plays well, SRH loses?

Sounds ridiculous right? Well, let us make our case.

In his Sunrisers Hyderabad career, Manish Pandey has a batting average of 24, which includes two fifties in the matches that SRH have won.

However, in the games SRH have lost, Manish Pandey's average is 42.94! He has also made eight half-centuries in losing causes.

Not only that, Manish is also the joint record-holder of staying unbeaten in the most unsuccessful chases in the IPL.

Make of that what you will.

100th IPL win

The 10-run victory over SRH marked KKR's 100th IPL victory.

Bhajji the opening bowler

Harbhjan Singh opened the bowling agasint SRH on April 11. And this was the 36th time that he's done that in the IPL. Lower down on the pecking order of this list are Ravi Ashwin (33), Nadeem (23), Yusuf Pathan (23) and K Gowtham (19).