IPL 2017 | Superlative top order gives SRH 26-run victory over KXIP

04/28/2017

Punjab simply had no answer to the might of SRH’s top 3, as all of them plundered rapid half-centuries to help the defending champions set the home side a target of 208. Shaun Marsh led the Punjab charge with a brilliant 50-ball 84 but it proved to be vain as KXIP fell 26 runs short of the target.

Brief Scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 207/3 (Shikhar Dhawan 77, Kane Williamson 54*; Glenn Maxwell 2/29, Mohit Sharma 1/34) beat Kings XI Punjab 181/9 (Shaun Marsh 84, Eoin Morgan 26; Siddharth Kaul 3/36, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2/27) by 26 runs.

Glenn Maxwell chose to bowl first after winning the toss on a wicket that promised runs. With Hashim Amla and T Natarajan missing out due to injury, and Marcus Stoinis and Sandeep Sharma dropped, the Kings were forced into a host of changes with Ishant Sharma, Martin Guptill, Eoin Morgan, and Anureet Singh coming in for the game. Hyderabad, who were looking to bounce back from defeat against Pune and a washed out match in Bangalore, replaced Bipul Sharma and Mohammad Siraj with the veteran duo, Yuvraj Singh, and Ashish Nehra.

Opening torment for Kings XI Punjab

David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan began the quest for SRH’s first away victory this season in fine style, taking their time to settle in the 1st two overs, and then taking apart Punjab’s pace attack consisting of Anureet and Ishant to take SRH to 60/0 at the end of the powerplay. Maxwell responded by bringing on himself and Cariappa into the attack, but that too failed to halt the explosiveness of the opening pair’s play as they continued to score at a rapid pace bringing up their team’s 100 and their own respective half-centuries. It all looked ominous for Punjab, but Maxwell castled Warner off the last ball of the 10th over, as the scoreboard read 107/1.

The Williamson show takes SRH beyond 200

Williamson, who came in at No.3, maintained the aggression to build on the solid foundation that the opening pair had laid, quickly building a 40 run partnership off just 25 balls with Dhawan, before a mishit from the latter was holed out to Maxwell at deep midwicket. Yuvraj short stint at the crease was brought to a premature end by Maxwell and it appeared like the Kings might be able to fight their way into the game with the scoreboard reading 171/2 in the 18th over. Williamson, however, had different plans as he plundered the 2 Sharmas, Ishant and Mohit, for 20 and 11 in the last two overs to bring up his own half-century and take SRH past the 200-run mark.

3 quick wickets put Punjab on the ropes

Chasing a target of 208, Manan Vohra and Martin Guptill came in to open the innings for Punjab, and the latter, in for Amla, started aggressively, smashing Bhuvneshwar Kumar for 2 fours in the first over, and Nehra for 2 more and a six in the next. But that was as good as it got for the Punjab top order as Guptill, Vohra, and the dangerman Glenn Maxwell all took turns in giving catching practise to SRH fielders in consecutive overs. Morgan joined Marsh, who looked to be exceptional touch, in preventing any more wickets from falling as Punjab toiled to 76/3 at the end of 10 overs.

Marsh’s last stand ends in vain

With Rashid Khan nigh unplayable, the Punjab batsmen decided to go after Moises Henriques, as Eoin Morgan and Marsh finally turned on the afterburners in the 13th over which yielded 19 runs and yet another dropped catch. Deepak Hooda made up for the gaffe by snaffling Morgan in the very next over, but Marsh continued the onslaught, hitting Kaul for 2 fours and a six in the 15th over to bring the required run rate to an even 14. The fightback seemed to be in vain, as Saha first dragged a slower one from Kaul onto his stumps, attempting a pull that wasn’t really on, and Marsh gave Hooda a second attempt at a catch in the subsequent over, with the latter making no mistake this time. The asking rate, at this point at 15.5 an over, was simply too much for Axar Patel and co, and Punjab’s innings finally petered out at 181.