IPL SRL | SRH vs KXIP Evaluation Chart: Ravi Bishnoi heroics scamper the base for Punjab march

Match Review

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The turning point of the game had to be David Warner’s dismissal for the Australian radiates hope like no other. Even after the side suffered early damage, Warner was the only player who could have made amends for the early loss. With his dismissal, it was fair to say that Hyderabad lost all their hope, and eventually the game. 

Highs and Lows

Jonny Bairstow and Kane Williamson are capable of changing the course of the game single-handedly but it is for the utter displeasure of SRH fans that the duo failed yet again. David Warner has carried the load of the side more often than not, but there is only so much one can do and he needs his fellow comrades to come good. Their failures once again meant the hosts had been dealt with a body blow, from which it was hard to recover from.

Rating Charts

With Jonny Bairstow and Kane Williamson continuing their bad streak, Sunrisers Hyderabad had been left to rue their decision of batting first after winning the toss. Only David Warner stood tall, scoring 29 runs off 21 balls during that period, while Mohammed Shami and Mujeeb Ur Rahman accounted for a wicket each. One could still side with their approach considering the level of carnage that Warner can inflict on his own, but looking at the first six-over phase in isolation, this was a phase Hyderabad would want to avoid.

The target in front of them was so low that Punjab players had just danced their way to victory. The powerplay was no different as KL Rahul guided the visitors to 49/1 in the first six-over phase, with Mayank Agarwal adding runs by a tickle at the other end. The team, however, will be wary of the fact that Chris Gayle is going through a wretched run of form - something that they need to be considerate going ahead.

After a shambolic powerplay, it was imperative for the Hyderabad side to fire back strongly in the middle-over phase, but it was anything but that. To go with the two-wicket loss in the powerplay, SRH further lost four more wickets in the nine-over phase between 6 and 15, where they could just 43 runs. All the big-hitters, who could have added a sense of authority, were doomed fatal, with Manish Pandey, Virat Singh, and Vijay Shankar scoring a combined total of 31 runs off 43 balls. This put them in a dire situation as death overs approached.

It is a phase where Punjab virtually slammed the door on Hyderabad’s face and with a good measure. There was only so much the Hyderabad bowlers could do, with the batsmen not leaving a slightest of opportunity for them to fight back. Rashid Khan did his best to contain the flow with the ball, but Mayank Agarwal played a fine catch-up knock to ensure the side reached 108/4 at the end of 15th overs, needing just 8 runs to win the game.

Rashid Khan’s madness sometimes goes beyond his bowling and his calculated aggression helped Sunrisers Hyderabad lift their fortunes to an extent. The Afghanistan batsman, with the help of three fours, added 26 runs off 21 balls, which helped them beyond 100. However, Kings XI Punjab took the cake of this five-over phase, in which Sheldon Cottrell and Mujeeb Ur Rahman dismissed three Sunrisers batsmen within the space of seven deliveries. Giving away just 34 runs in the last five overs meant Punjab had the upper hand in the mid-way break of the innings.

This phase was actually redundant for only eight runs were needed for Punjab to scamper home. Judging this would be as useless as making sense of any Salman Khan blockbuster lately.

Honestly, nothing apart from that one Ravi Bishnoi spell of impregnable audacity managed to capture my attention in this encounter, which was totally mediocre. I would much rather be in a Meditation centre than watching this game live.