Kings XI Punjab looked all set to stage a dramatic comeback against defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad’s total of 159/6, before the hosts reeled them with their display of superior bowling might that relied on Bhuvneshwar Kumar (5/19) to edge out a nerve-wracking five run victory with just two balls to spare on Monday.
Earlier in the day, both Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kings XI Punjab set out with a point to prove, having lost their two preceding games, as they took on each other. However, with their respective defeats coinciding with them playing away matches, it was KXIP, who were slightly under more pressure to set aside their disappointing run.
Stinginess of Punjab’s bowlers
KXIP’s skipper Glenn Maxwell counted on his bowlers to substantiate his decision to bowl first after winning the toss. His three-man pace bowling tandem of Sharma’s – Sandeep, Ishant and Mohit – then more than lived up to their task of choking the Sunrisers’ run-rate by keeping their openers, David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan on the backfoot.
Punjab conceded just 29 runs in the powerplay, with Mohit Sharma picking the vital wicket of Dhawan, who frustrated by the drying up of runs was caught behind by the wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha trying to outsmart a bouncer.
The lack of runs during the powerplay shifted the balance of the match in favour of Punjab, who continued to keep a leash on the batsmen giving them no room whatsoever to even take the slightest of risks.
The introduction of Axar Patel, then compounded the Sunrisers’ batting woes. Not only with the deficiency of runs continuing, but also with him striking through the batting order – picking Moises Henriques and Yuvraj Singh’s wickets in consecutive balls – leaving the Sunrisers floundering with three wickets down.
Captain David Warner to the rescue
Stranded as they were at 58/3 after the 10th over, it was the Sunrisers’ skipper Warner, who then stepped in to try and save the day for the team. Unlike his former partners, who had made their way back into the dugout after trying too hard, Warner opted to go back to the basics in rotating the strike, weaving the boundaries and occasional sixes around them.
Warner then found a steady partner in keeper-batsman Naman Ojha at the other end. The two posted a 50-run stand for the fourth wicket even as they took the team’s total past the 100-run mark and helped push the run-rate to over seven runs per over.
Ojha’s wicket in the 16th over snapped the partnership, but Warner continued to maintain his grip on the match, bringing up his fifth half-century on the trot against Punjab. Leading from the front, the 30-year-old left the field with an unbeaten 70 off 54 balls that included just two sixes and seven fours, pulling up the Sunrisers to a respectable 159/6 in their assigned 20 overs.
Taking mentor VVS Laxman’s words to heart
Looking at the way Warner guided the Sunrisers along, team mentor VVS Laxman seemed to be in a relaxed and confident mood as he quipped about the hosts posting a winning total, during the innings break.
As purple cap owner Bhuvneshwar Kumar scalped Hashim Amla’s wicket in the first ball of the first over, before bringing down curtains on Maxwell’s outing, Laxman’s words resonated like a prediction.
Punjab, however, looked to have gained the upperhand as two expensive overs off IPL debutant Mohammad Nabi, and fan favourite Rashid Khan, in the powerplay, allowed the team to cross the 50-run mark. It wasn’t, however, long before the Afghani duo stormed back into the match in their second spell, compensating for their first over costliness.
Nabi struck first, by castling Eoin Morgan in the ninth over, before Khan followed up on the act by replicating the effort against David Miller and Wriddhiman Saha in the next over. Needless to say, as the wickets fell, Punjab’s run-rate too trickled down, with the team reeling at 62/5 midway through their innings.
Manan Vohra tried to marshal Punjab’s run-chase in a semblance of Warner’s heroics in the first innings, hitting a finely paced half-century. But, the Sunrisers’ bowlers’ frequent chipping of his partners’ wickets at the other side, meant that he was left fighting a lone battle.
Just like it seemed Vohra would run away with the match, Sunrisers’ in-form bowler, Kumar bowled a beauty of a spell to dismiss the opener, who top-scored in the match with 95 runs from 50 balls, 66 of which came in fours and sixes.
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