Press Trust of India

Hyderabad

The self-destructing batters let Sunrisers Hyderabad down again to hand a Kolkata Knight Riders a much needed five-run win in the IPL here on Thursday, keeping the Nitish Rana-led side alive in the tournament.

Rana and Rinku Singh came up with a fruitful 61-run partnership to help KKR post 171 for nine and then their bowlers, especially Shardul Thakur (2/23) and Vaibhav Arora (2/32), helped the two-time IPL champions limit Sunrisers Hyderabad to 166 for eight in 20 overs. Varun Chakaravarthy bowled a brilliant 20th over to eke out a welcome win for his team.

KKR earned their fourth victory of the season and are now on eight points, while SRH, who remained stranded on six points, suffered a huge body blow to their chances of making the playoffs.