Sunrisers Hyderabad does it again! Successfully defends a meagre total of 133 runs against Kings XI Punjab

Hyderabad, April 27: Bowlers of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) does it again as they successfully achieved the victory against Kings XI Punjab while defending 133 runs target on Thursday. After posting a below-par 132-6 batting first at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad, the Sunrisers came back strongly to bowl out the visitors for 119. SRH won the match by 13 runs and climbed to the second spot in the VIVO IPL 2018 points table.

 

KL Rahul and Chris Gayle gave KXIP the perfect start to their run-chase adding 55 in 7.5 overs. But both openers were dismissed in quick succession and the wheels came off the run-chase in spectacular fashion. From 55-0, KXIP slipped to 96-7 losing seven wickets for 41 runs and were eventually bowled out for 119 in 19.2 overs.

Kane Williamson’s moves worked like a charm as every time he wanted a wicket, his bowlers gave him one. Rashid Khan was SRH’s most successful bowler with figures of 3-19 from his four overs, while three others including Sandeep Sharma, Basil Thampi and Shakib al Hasan chipped in with two wickets each.

Earlier in the evening, Manish Pandey was chiefly responsible for Sunrisers Hyderabad getting as far as 132-8. The Karnataka batsman walked out to bat after the openers were dismissed in the first three overs; he dropped anchor and helped himself to his 11th IPL half-century.

It wasn’t the most fluent innings one has seen from him, instead was more a workman-like effort, and definitely an extremely important knock for his team. The 28-year old was put down thrice on 4, 9 and 44 and he capitalized on the opposition’s largesse to finish with 54, made from 51 balls. Pandey’s innings contained three boundaries and a six; he reached his half-century off 48 balls in what would be the joint-slowest innings by a Sunrisers batsman.

After slipping to 27-3 in five overs, the SRH innings was resurrected by a 52-run partnership for the fourth wicket; Pandey found an ally in Shakib-al-Hasan (28 from 29 balls), and the pair kept the visitors’ bowlers at bay for nearly nine overs. Pandey’s vigil ended in the final over when he was castled by Ankit Rajpoot. Yusuf Pathan’s unbeaten 21, made from 19 balls, was the only noteworthy contribution in the SRH innings.