Jonny Bairstow steer Sunrisers Hyderabad to a comfortable victory over Kings XI Punjab
Photo - IPL
|| India Correspondent ||
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) returned to its winning zone as they successfully beat Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in the 22nd match of the 2020 edition of Indian Premier League (IPL). The victory came on the back of a blitzy 97 from Jonny Bairstow and a stormy 52 from the captain David Warner.
Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and elected to bat first where both Warner and Bairstow got off to a flying start. Warner took on Sheldon Cottrell in the very first over for two boundaries whereas his partner hit a boundary off Mujeeb Ur Rahman in the next.
While both Mujeeb and Mohammed Shami tried to put on a check on their scoring, the duo found it easy to take on Cottrell, whose first over went for 13 and he conceded 15 runs in his second over. With a few big hits, they put up 58 runs in the power play.
It was the 8th over when Jonny smashed two sixes and a four off the youngster Ravi Bishnoi. While the first six went over long-on, the next one went over deep square leg. Warner was no less as he smashed a maximum off Mujeeb in the next over. Bairstow brought up his fifty in the 10th over and the duo added 100 runs as well.
Soon, Bairstow changed the pace and started smashing all over the park. While Punjab bowlers failed to counter-attack them, Warner brought up his fifty and Jonny went on to hit two more sixes, lifting the team to 160 runs in 15 overs.
However, their onslaught came to an end when Ravi Bishnoi broke the partnership, removing Warner with a googly for 52 off 40 with 5 fours and a six. He struck twice after two balls when he trapped Bairstow before the stamp and dismissed him for 97 off 55 with 7 fours and 6 sixes.
Although they lost a few wickets in between, Kane Williamson’s unbeaten 20 off 10 and Abhishek Sharma’s 6-ball 12 helped Hyderabad reached the 200-run mark as they ended up scoring 201 for 6 in their allotted 20 overs.
While chasing, Punjab openers KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal failed to provide with a steady start where Mayank fell for mere 9 courtesy a brilliant throw by none other than David Warner. The next batsman Simran Singh too got out for mere 11 and his dismissal brought Nicholas Pooran in the middle.
Both KL Rahul and Pooran tried to resurrect the innings where Pooran started with a boundary off Khaleel Ahmed. The duo added 45 runs inside the first six overs before Pooran took on Abhishek Sharma for two big sixes. However, Rahul’s struggle in the middle was clearly visible and he got out for 11 off 16 who tried to play the sweep but ended up giving the catch to Williamson at the deep square leg.
The pressure fell upon Pooran to take the side home. With Glenn Maxwell at the other end, he started to rebuild their innings. It was the 9th over when he smashed four sixes and a four, registering his fifty as well. Notably, he registered the fastest fifty of this season so far and his swashbuckling knock lifted Punjab’s score to 96 for 3 after 10 overs.
While Pooran stood strong at one end, he started loosing partners from the other end. However, a lot of pressure and lack of support from the other end witnessed his dismissal in the 15th over for 77 off 37 with 5 fours and 7 sixes when he gave a catch to T Natarajan at backward point off Rashid Khan.
With much surprise, no other batsman could reach the double-figure later on and they were bowled out for 132 inside 17 overs, courtesy Rashid Khan’s 3 for 12 and 2 wickets each for Khaleel Ahmed and T Natarajan. Sunrisers Hyderabad won the game by a whopping 69 runs.
