Mayank Agarwal was missing, having hurt his toe on Satuday. The Punjab Kings, with Shikhar Dhawan at the helm, missed its skipper badly as the in-form Sunrisers Hyderabad pace quartet was all over it to set up a fourth consecutive win in the Indian Premier League’s 15th edition.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar was at his miserly best while Umran Malik continued to spew venom as Sunrisers bowled the Kings for 151 at the DY Patil Stadium. Despite Kane Williamson perishing early, the Sunrisers batters ensured the chase remained in control, winning by seven wickets with as many balls to spare.
For the second time in three days, Sunrisers’ Fantastic Four emerged as the architects of the win. Despite Liam Livingstone’s power-packed fifty, the Sunrisers pacers dominated the Powerplay and the death overs.
Marco Jansen and Bhuvneshwar were on the ball, with the latter hitting Dhawan on the box. Bhuvneshwar struck in his second over with a short ball to Dhawan that the veteran could only hole out to mid-on.
With T. Natarajan luring Prabhsimran into a false stroke in the Powerplay and J. Suchith trapping Jonny Bairstow lbw after the Englishman’s failed attempt to sweep the spinner, the stage was set for Umran Malik to rattle the Kings.
The Kashmir Express did just that, with Jitesh Sharma top-edging the bowler for a skier. At 61 for four, having waged an assault on Jansen in the last over of the Powerplay, Livingstone cut loose. His upper cut and pull off Malik were a treat to watch.
Shahrukh Khan, unable to rotate strike, hung on as the duo had set the platform for a strong finish. At 132 for four in 16 overs, the Kings could have hoped for a target close to 180.
The next four overs yielded just 19 runs for six wickets as Bhuvneshwar and Malik ripped through the Kings batting. Bhuvneshwar struck off his first ball on return, with Shahrukh’s attempted swat resulting in a top-edge to Williamson. In the penultimate over, despite conceding a six off Odean Smith, Bhuvneshwar had the prize scalp of Livingstone, with Williamson diving forward at covers.
What followed was mayhem as Malik became only the fourth bowler in IPL history to bowl the last over of an innings as maiden. To top it all, he ran though the lower order, picking three wickets and the last ball resulting in a run-out.
That last over seemed to have taken the zing out of the Kings as it never looked to be in the game in the latter half.
Scoreboard
Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan c Marco Jansen b Bhuvneshwar 8 Prabhsimran Singh c Pooran b T Natarajan 14 Jonny Bairstow lbw b J Suchith 12 Liam Livingstone c Williamson b Bhuvneshwar 60 Jitesh Sharma c and b Umran Malik 11 Shahrukh Khan c Williamson b Bhuvneshwar 26 Odean Smith c and b Umran Malik 13 Kagiso Rabada not out 0 Rahul Chahar b Umran Malik 0 Vaibhav Arora b Umran Malik 0 Arshdeep Singh run out 0
Extras: (W-7) 7
Total: 151 all out in 20 overs
Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-33, 3-48, 4-61, 5-132, 6-151, 7-151, 8-151, 9-151
Sunrisers Hyderabad bowling: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4-0-22-3, Marco Jansen 4-0-35-0, T Natarajan 4-0-38-1, Jagadeesha Suchith 4-0-28-1, Umran Malik 4-1-28-4.
Sunrisers Hyderabad innings: Abhishek Sharma c Shahrukh Khan b Rahul Chahar 31 Kane Williamson c Dhawan b Rabada 3 Rahul Tripathi c Shahrukh Khan b Rahul Chahar 34 Aiden Markram not out 41 Nicholas Pooran not out 35
Extras: (LB-1, W-7) 8
Total: (3 wkts, 18.5 Overs) 152
Fall of Wickets: 14-1, 62-2, 77-3
Punjab Kings bowling: Vaibhav Arora 3.5-0-35-0, Kagiso Rabada 4-0-29-1, Arshdeep Singh 4-0-32-0, Rahul Chahar 4-0-28-2, Odean Smith 1-0-8-0, Liam Livingstone 2-0-19-0.
