Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) suffered their fifth lost in six outings to stay at the bottom of the IPL 2020 points table. On the other hand, the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) made a stunning comeback after starting poorly to win their third game of the season.
The SRH bowling attack continues to impress as the David Warner team secured a comprehensive 69 runs win over KXIP.
IPL 2020 SRH vs KXIP Highlights: SRH failed to capitalise on their majestic start
Earlier, SRH had themselves to blame for not posting a huge total on the board after being 160/0 after 15 overs. Their openers Jonny Bairstow and David Warner batted superbly upfront to smash KXIP bowlers to all parts of the ground. The former took the lead in run-scoring while the SRH skipper played second fiddle to him. The duo kept on adding the misery on the opposition bowlers who came into this game without picking any wicket against CSK a couple of days ago.
Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb ur Rahman also looked under-cooked in this game dishing out a few full tosses. Bairstow took full toll of such deliveries and looked good to get to his century comfortably. Warner, at the other end, also reached to his ninth consecutive half-century against KXIP. Bairstow, meanwhile, plundered runs at will and at 160/0, things looked ominous.
After losing the duo, SRH’s inexperienced middle-order however, couldn’t handle the proceedings and lost wickets in a heap. Arshdeep Singh, playing his first game of the season, bowled well too at the death to restrict the opposition only for 201 runs in their 20 overs.
IPL 2020 SRH vs KXIP Highlights: Pooran lone warrior in KXIP’s chase
KXIP began the chase in the worst possible manner with their opening stand breaking through a run-out. Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul were involved in a mix-up thanks to some scintillating fielding effort from David Warner. Rahul looked comfortable in the middle and the pressure got to him after scoring only 11 runs off 16 deliveries.
Nicholas Pooran then came out and played a blitzkrieg to leave SRH bowlers stunned. He cleverly attacked the fifth bowling options of the opposition taking on Abhishek Sharma and Abdul Samad. The latter suffered the worst conceding 28 runs in a single over.
Despite losing quick wickets before Pooran’s blitz, KXIP were suddenly back in the game. Glenn Maxwell was looking to settle down at the other end but misjudged a single. Priyam Garg affected a direct hit to catch him well short of the crease for just 7 runs. Rashid Khan then took care of the things picking three wickets including that of Pooran to seal the deal for his team.
However, prior to that, Pooran played a special knock smashing the fastest fifty of the IPL 2020 off 17 deliveries. He fought lonely in the innings and KXIP’s thin batting didn’t help their cause either. The Caribbean left-hander scored 77 off 37 balls before getting out to Rashid. Eventually, Kings XI got bowled out for 132 in the 17th over of the innings to lose the game by 69 runs.
IPL 2020 SRH vs KXIP Highlights: Zero attacking shots from KXIP skipper KL Rahul
According to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data, KL Rahul didn’t play a single attacking shot in the powerplay tonight. Clearly, his role has been to bat through the innings an anchor the chase, but when you need 202 to win, batting through the powerplay for 11 off 15 balls isn’t really acceptable.
He then finally played an attacking shot against Abhishek Sharma, after Pooran had hit two sixes and taken a leg bye from the first three balls of the over. Surely the right option was to nudge a single and get Pooran back on strike for the match-up against the left-arm spinner?
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