India batter Venkatesh Iyer smashed 60 off 29 balls to fire holders Kolkata Knight Riders to an 80-run hammering of Sunrisers Hyderabad in a comeback IPL win on Thursday.

Iyer’s knock and 91-run stand with fellow left-hander Rinku Singh propelled Kolkata to 200-6 at their home in Eden Gardens after being invited to bat first in a rematch of last year’s final, AFP reported.

Iyer proved his worth in a blitz laced with seven fours and three sixes after Kolkata paid a whopping $2.81 million for him in the November auction.

Skipper Ajinkya Rahane, who hit 38, and Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who struck 50, lay the foundations of the total in their partnership of 81 after openers fell early.

Bowlers led by impact substitute Vaibhav Arora bowled Hyderabad out for 120 in 16.4 overs as Kolkata bounced back from a crushing defeat to Mumbai Indian in their previous game early this week.

“This game was really important for us,” said Rahane. “Winning by a big margin was crucial for us.”

“Last two games were not up to the mark for us. But we learned a lot from our mistakes. This is a great example for us as a batting unit.”

Kolkata moved from the bottom to fifth in the 10-team table and Hyderabad sunk to the last spot with three defeats in four matches.

“Not a great night tonight,” said Hyderabad skipper Pat Cummins.

“In the mid-innings break, we thought it was gettable. It was a pretty good wicket. Gave away few too many in the field and obviously fell short (with the bat).”

Arora impact

Arora, who was named player of the match for his figures of 3-29, and spinner Varun Chakravarthy took three wickets each.

Iyer and batters set up victory despite the loss of Quinton de Kock, for one, and Sunil Narine, for seven, inside the first three overs.

Cummins took down De Kock and fellow quick Mohammed Shami dismissed Narine before Rahane hit back with a flurry of boundaries.

The 20-year-old Raghuvanshi joined forces with the captain as he reached his fifty and hit five fours and two sixes in his 32-ball knock.

Kolkata seemed to slip after Rahane and then Raghuvanshi departed and Iyer took time to get going but once set he proved destructive and smashed Cummins for three fours and a six in a 21-run 19th over.

Iyer, who fell in the final over, and Rinku, who hit 32, combined to pummel the opposition bowlers in the last five overs, which produced 78 runs.

In reply, Hyderabad were in trouble at 9-3 and then 44-4 after seam bowler Arora struck two early blows including Australia’s Travis Head out on the second ball for four.

Left-handed opener Abhishek Sharma fell to Harshit Rana and Arora made it three down after he dismissed another left-hander Ishant Kishan for two.

Sri Lanka’s IPL debutant Kamindu Mendis hit 27 before he became Sunil Narine’s wicket and the rest of the batting crumbled.

South African wicketkeeper-batsman Heinrich Klaasen made 33 in a disappointing show by Hyderabad.