On a day when the young players of both sides gave their team some crucial breakthroughs, Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Kings XI Punjab by 69 runs in Match 22 of the ongoing Indian Premier League.
Choosing to bat, Sunrisers openers Jonny Bairstow and David Warner got off to a flying start but KXIP’s young bowlers pulled it back in the last 5 overs and restricted them to 201/6 – their highest score in this Indian Premier League – on Thursday, 8 October.
In response, Nicholas Pooran fought with a 37-ball 77 even as wickets fell around him. KXIP were bowled out for 132 in 16.5 overs and slumped to their fourth-straight loss this season.
KL Rahul-led KXIP remain at the bottom of the points table with just one win in six games while Sunrisers move to the third spot in the standings after three victories and three losses.
Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Innings
Bairstow fell three runs short of scoring his second IPL century but his 160-run opening stand with captain Warner got the Sunrisers off to an explosive start.
Young spinner Ravi Bishnoi gave KXIP a big breakthrough by removing both the opening batsmen in the 16th over.
Warner was caught out by Maxwell for 52 (off 40 balls) while Bairstow followed him back to the hut after getting trapped lbw. Bairstow’s 55-ball 97 included seven boundaries and six sixes while Warner hit five fours and a maximum.
Ravi Bishnoi (3/29 in 3 overs) picked up three wickets, Arshdeep Singh (2/33) two and Mohammed Shami (1/40) one as KXIP ended up taking six wickets and conceding 41 runs in the last five overs.
Kane Williamson (10-ball 20*) and Abhishek Sharma added 24 runs in 9 balls before Shami removed the latter for 12 (off 6 balls) on the penultimate ball of the innings.
Kings XI Punjab’s Innings
Sunrisers Hyderabad’s run chase never took off.
An early mix-up between the big-hitting opening duo of the season – Mayank Agarwal (9) and KL Rahul – saw the former walking back to the hut in the second over.
Pacer Khaleel Ahmed, coming into the side in place of Siddarth Kaul, then removed youngster Prabh Simran Singh for 11.
Captain KL Rahul, the leading run-scorer so far this season, was dismissed for 11 off a delivery by 20-year-old all-rounder Abhishek Sharma, reducing KXIP to 58/3 in 6.4 overs.
No.4 batsman Pooran went on to score his maiden IPL fifty off just 17 deliveries. He stitched together a 47-run stand with Glenn Maxwell – the most significant partnership in the innings. However, a brilliant piece of fielding by another young star – the 19-year-old Priyam Garg – saw Maxwell (7) get run out by a direct hit at the non-striker’s end. Pooran’s knock included seven sixes and five boundaries.
Rashid eventually dismissed Pooran in the 15th over and also got the wicket of Shami in the next ball, reducing KXIP to 126/8, still needing 76 balls off 30 balls.
KXIP were bowled all out with Rashid returning with 3 for 12. Khaleel and T Natarajan picked up two wickets apiece while Abhishek Sharma got one scalp.
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