Kolkata Knight Riders’ Rovman Powell produced a high-impact one-handed catch to dismiss Heinrich Klaasen during their match against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Sunday. Klaasen mistimed a delivery from Cameron Green on the leg side, and the ball hung in the air long enough to test the outfielders’ timing.
At a glance
- Match: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Kolkata Knight Riders (at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad) on Sunday
- Key moment: Rovman Powell held a one-handed catch to remove Heinrich Klaasen off Cameron Green
- Dismissal detail: Klaasen mistimed a leg-side delivery; Powell raced in from deep mid-wicket and completed the catch cleanly after landing
- Extra incident: Powell’s sunglasses frame broke while making the take
- Toss: Pat Cummins won the toss and chose to bat first
- SRH batting form: SRH arrived on the back of a five-match winning streak
- Captain quotes: Cummins backed the high-scoring conditions and confidence in their style; Ajinkya Rahane discussed choosing to bat first and team improvements
Powell sprinted to his right from deep mid-wicket and, for a brief moment, it looked like the ball might carry past him. Instead, he stretched and took the catch one-handed, then rolled along the turf as he finished the effort without spilling possession.
There was a small twist in the aftermath: while securing the stunning grab, Powell ended up breaking the frame of his sunglasses. The dismissal nevertheless swung momentum firmly in KKR’s favour as the danger man was sent back.
Team news and line-ups shaped the lead-in to the contest. Sunrisers Hyderabad made two changes to their playing group, bringing in Ravichandran Smaran and Harshal Patel in place of Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harsh Dubey.
For Kolkata Knight Riders, Manish Pandey returned to the XI for his first appearance of the season. He came into the side replacing Ramandeep Singh.
Captains’ toss talk
After winning the toss, SRH captain Pat Cummins opted to bat first against KKR. He said the pitch looked favourable and that the conditions were very hot, adding that his plan was to bat, post a total, and then see how the game unfolded.
Cummins also admitted he was not particularly focused on reading pitches, but felt the surface was promising and expected the match to play out as a high-scoring affair. He then addressed SRH’s current momentum, noting it was highly unlikely they would win every game from that point onward, yet insisted their winning formula had been working and that they were five successive victories into the run.
KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane, meanwhile, explained that they had wanted to bat first as well. He pointed out that the recent “breaks” had helped the team, allowing them to re-group, revisit what they had done well, and focus on areas that needed improvement.
