Upbeat Sunrisers take on Kings XI
PATCHY JOB Knight Riders overcome shoddy catching to hand another defeat to Kings XI, go to the top of points table
KOLKATA: Youtube produces 5,650 results when you type ‘catches win matches’; google takes half a second to throw up about 1,81,000 video results. Now that KKR have taken the top slot, and almost secured a playoff berth after Andre Russell and Yusuf Pathan made the target of 184 runs look modest at Eden Gardens on Sunday, they could perhaps watch some of those videos and apply it in their game.
That KXIP never had the bowlers, especially spinners, to defend even 200 is not the point. Giving five lives to the openers can’t be good for a team hoping to win their third title. The first chance was difficult though, skipper Gautam Gambhir at short extra-cover getting a hand to an uppish drive from Murali Vijay. Then it was Brad Hogg’s turn to drop Vijay.
Umesh Yadav then made Hogg’s miss look pardonable. This time the ball went straight to Yadav at short fine-leg but the India pacer juggled several times before grassing it. Vijay was finally dismissed in the same over but by then he had provided the impetus KXIP utilised well in the middle overs.
Manan Vohra, Vijay’s opening partner, was fortunate too. There seemed no end to the misery for bowler Andre Russell. In the space of five balls he saw Vohra being dropped by ‘keeper Robin Uthappa followed by a shocker by Yusuf Pathan. The spilt catches allowed Punjab to reach the 10-over mark without losing much ground.
BIG BLOWS
Glenn Maxwell stitched a 50-run partnership with Wriddhiman Saha in 24 balls. Luckily for KKR, not all players had forgotten catching. Once Johan Botha caught Maxwell at deep midwicket, Narine started making an impact. He stuck to the basics and fielded well off his own bowling, returning a standout 4/19. Chawla went for plenty but there were times when he made scoring tough by giving more flight or using the width of the crease.
Punjab were hoping KKR would wilt under the pressure of chasing the solid target. They managed to make a match out of it by catching everything that came their way. Russell’s dismissal may not have been an eye-catcher, but Saha quietly showed once again what a talent he is behind the wicket.
It could have been a turning point, but Punjab never had the bowling to drive home the advantage and Chawla, with the bat, showed all’s still well with KKR. But in the heart of hearts they would know catching needs urgent repairs. HYDERABAD: Having found a place among the top-four teams in the ongoing IPL T20 tournament, Sunrisers Hyderabad would look to consolidate their gains when they take on beleaguered Kings XI Punjab at the Rajiv Gandhi International cricket stadium here on Monday.
After struggling to find the right momentum, the David Warner-led side improved its stock in the recent matches and it now stands at fourth position in the points table following its sixrun victory over Delhi Daredevils in Raipur on Saturday.
The weak area for SunRisers has been their middle-order, which was expected to complement the effort of its swashbuckling openers, Warner and Shikhar Dhawan.
However, the middle-order batsmen like Moises Henriques, Eoin Morgan and Naman Ojha have come up with impressive performances in recent matches. Leg-spinner Karn Sharma has also come in handy with the bat.
Henriques’ unbeaten 74 runs in 46 balls led the team to score a significant win against Delhi Daredevils, which brought the team in real contention for the play-offs.
The star-studded bowling attack, including Dale Steyn, Trent Boult, Bhunveshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Karn has been the potent weapon of the Hyderabad-based side.
The upbeat mood in the camp and the advantage of playing at home, is sure to give any rival team a run for its money.
SRH beat the table-toppers Chennai Super Kings in their last home match on May 2.
The Kings XI Punjab, on the other hand, is languishing at the bottom of the points table having won just two matches and four points in the tournament.
The Punjab side, the runnersup in last year’s tournament, has not been able to play to its full potential despite having big names like Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Johnson.