Sunrisers take flight, Punjab hit rock bottom

CHANDIGARH: It’s going from bad to worse for Punjab Kings this IPL. They did win their first game but that has turned out to be a mirage. On Wednesday, their batting crumbled against Sunrisers Hyderabad and a ninewicket loss pushed them to last in the points table.

For a side that boasts of exciting stroke-players—skipper KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle and Nicolas Pooran—a total of 120 is hardly enough, even on a slow MA Chidambaram Stadium pitch in Chennai. And this after Punjab Kings had folded for 106 against Chennai Super Kings the other day in Mumbai. For SRH, it was their first win. They had lost their first three matches, and as pointed out repeatedly, the inclusion of Kane Williamson pepped up the team. Just when it seemed that things were slipping away, Hyderabad may also have found their best 11. Taking advantage of the slow wicket, Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper David Warner rotated his bowlers well.

Punjab were tottering at 39/3 and never recovered. Rahul fell for four and Agarwal (22), Gayle (15), Deepak Hooda (13) and Moises Henriques (14) all failed despite getting set. For Hyderabad, leg-spinner Rashid Khan was the most threatening bowler though he took just one wicket. Left-arm spinner Abhishek Sharma bowled exceedingly well to scalp two. Punjab looked up to Mohammed Shami for a miracle but his woes with the ball continued. SRH skipper Warner showed glimpse of his class, scoring a 37-ball 37.