Three blistering half-centuries by Shikhar Dhawan, skipper David Warner, and Kane Williamson led defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad to a strong 207-3 before beating Kings XI Punjab by 26 runs in the Indian Premier League on Friday. Beforehand, Kolkata Knight Riders rode on captain Gautam Gambhir's fourth half-century in beating Delhi Daredevils by seven wickets. Knight Riders lead the standings by two points from Mumbai Indians. Sunrisers were third, another point behind after their fifth victory. Kings XI are sixth with three wins, and Dardevils last with only two victories from seven games. After being sent in to bat, Dhawan and Warner laid a brisk stand of 107 runs in 10 overs. Warner, dropped on 25 by wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha, went on to hit 51 off 27 balls before he was clean bowled by Kings XI captain Glenn Maxwell. Dhawan smashed nine fours and a six before he holed out in the deep after scoring 77 off 48 balls. Williamson, 54 off 27 balls, pushed the scoring rate and hit medium-pacer Ishant Sharma for 20 runs in the 19th over, and reached his half-century in the last over. Shaun Marsh led Kings XI's reply with an impressive 84 off 50 balls, hitting 14 fours and a six before he fell to Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the 16th over as the home team came up short at 181-9. Medium-fast bowler Siddarth Kaul, who removed Maxwell for a duck, and Ashish Nehra grabbed three wickets each. Knight Riders moved atop the table with a clinical victory at Eden Gardens against Delhi Daredevils. The damage was done early when Daredevils were limited to 160-6, scoring only 20 off their last four overs. The chase was led by Gambhir, 71 not out, and Robin Uthappa, 59, who built the winning reply of 161-3 in 16.2 overs. Daredevils skipper Zaheer Khan couldn't complete his second over of bowling after he tweaked his hamstring, and Uthappa got a reprieve on 9 when he mistimed a pull shot and the ball dropped between Amit Mishra and Sanju Samson. Gambhir and Uthappa shared a 108-run second-wicket stand off just 66 deliveries. Uthappa raised his fourth half-century off 24 balls before he was finally run out in the 13th over after striking five fours and four sixes. Gambhir cut, pulled, and drove fluently to notch 11 boundaries in his unbeaten knock. Earlier, Daredevils lost their momentum after Samson, 60, and Karun Nair, 15, raced to 41-0 in the first four overs. The chief wrecker was medium-fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile, who took 3-34, including Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer lbw in one over. — AP
