RISING SUNRISERS
Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Kings XI Punjab by 26 runs in an Indian Premier League match at the IS Bindra Stadium on Friday night. The win has improved SRH’s hopes of making the playoffs while it has dented Punjab’s who are on six points.
Chasing 208, Punjab were restricted to 181 for 9 with Shaun Marsh (84), Eoin Morgan (26) and Martin Guptill (23) the only big contributors.
For Hyderabad, Siddharth Kaul and Ashish Nehra scalped three wickets each while pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar took two wickets for 27 runs.
Punjab started off on a positive note but after adding 26 runs for the first wicket, opener Guptill was dismissed by Bhuvneshwar Kumar as he tried to loft the knuckle ball but was caught by Moises Henriques. Guptill’s 11-ball knock was laced with four boundaries and one six. After one over, the in-form Manan Vohra (3) was sent packing by experienced pacer Nehra to make Punjab reel at 37 for 2 in four overs.
Skipper Glen Maxwell also failed to step up to the occasion as he was dismissed by Kaul for a duck.
Middle-order batsmen Marsh and Morgan then forged a 73-run partnership to give some hope to the hosts but while trying to pace up the scoring rate, the latter was dismissed by spinner Rashid Khan.
Morgan tried to slog-sweep a tossed up delivery but failed in doing so and Deepak Hooda took a good catch at wide long-on. Morgan faced 21 balls, in which he hit two boundaries and one six.
With 70 runs required from 30 balls, Wriddhiman Saha (2) came in to the middle but could not give Marsh the much-needed support as he was cleanbowled by Kaul in the 15th over.
Things got worse when Marsh was sent back to the pavilion in the next over. His brilliant 50-ball knock was stopped by Bhuvneshwar with the score on 138 for 5. Marsh slammed 14 boundaries and one six before he was caught at deep midwicket by Hooda.
Punjab’s lower-middle order also failed to deliver with Axar Patel (16), Anureet Singh (15), Mohit Sharma (2), Ishant Sharma (5 not out) failed to achieve the required run-rate. Earlier, put in to bat, openers David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan helped Sunrisers Hyderabad post a challenging 207 for 3. Right from the start, Dhawan (77) and Warner (51) thrashed Punjab’s bowlers all around the park, getting past the 100 run mark in just 10 overs. Both openers forged a 107-run partnership with the run-rate of 10.70 before Warner was sent packing by Punjab’s skipper Maxwell. Warner tried a slog-sweep over mid-wicket but totally missed the ball and got bowled. His 27-ball knock was laced with four boundaries and four sixes. Unperturbed by the fall of Warner’s wicket, Dhawan, who seemed good at the middle, continued the assault. But after adding another 40 runs with Kane Williamson (54 not out), he was dismissed on a Mohit Sharma delivery. Dhawan slammed nine boundaries and one six in his 48-ball innings.
Williamson along with veteran batsman Yuvraj Singh (15) then paced up the scoring rate, adding 24 runs in three overs before Yuvraj was dismissed by Maxwell in the 17th over.
With two overs remaining, middleorder batsmen Henriques and Williamson then completed the proceedings in style as they added 31 runs in two overs to post a challenging total. —