Kolkata, April 4 Former India fast bowler Varun Aaron lauded Kolkata Knight Riders' medium pacer Vaibhav Arora for his brilliant effort against Sunrisers Hyderabad and said the 27-year-old backed his lengths and delivered at the right moments.
Arora, who came as an impact player for KKR, struck early to remove dangerous Travis Head on the second ball of the innings. Interestingly, he had dismissed Head for a golden duck in the IPL 2024 final.
He then added another to his tally by sending Ishan Kishan back to the hut before striking once again to dismiss Heinrich Klassen as KKR bundled out SRH for 120 in 16.4 over in their chase of 201. Arora's performance also awarded him the Player of the Match honour.
"I was really happy to see him win Man of the Match; this performance truly deserved recognition. Dismissing three of the opposition’s key players was a game-changing effort. He bowled exceptionally well, backing his skills despite Travis Head attacking him from the first ball. He remained unfazed, stuck to his lengths, and delivered at the right moments. A brilliant effort from him tonight," Aaron said on JioHotstar.
Chasing 201, SRH never stood a chance as their top order crumbled within minutes as they were reeling 9/3 in 2.1 overs. Debutant Kamindu Mendis and Heinrich Klaasen played some promising shots but were dismissed before they could pose any real challenge. This was SRH's third consecutive loss and the second straight game where their batting collapsed.
Aaron further weighed in on SRH’s underwhelming performance and said, "This is when doubts start creeping into a team, but they need to back themselves for a few more games. Right now, they aren't assessing the conditions or the match situation well."
"When they lost three early wickets, they should have consolidated, just as Raghuvanshi and Ajinkya Rahane did for KKR to set up a 200-run total. But SRH failed to do that. Credit must go to Vaibhav Arora - his three crucial wickets, especially those two early breakthroughs, were absolute gold dust," he added.
This win saw KKR move up to the fifth spot in the points table while SRH slipped to the bottom.
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