NAVI MUMBAI: Umran Malik and Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s efforts with the ball were well backed by the batters as Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) defeated Punjab Kings (PBKS) by seven wickets in their IPL 2022 match here at Dr DY Patil Stadium on Sunday.
This is the fourth win of Sunrisers Hyderabad in the ongoing Indian Premier League 2022 which have taken them to the 4th spot while for Punjab kings, this is their third loss in six games. For SRH, Umran Malik bagged four wickets while Bhuvneshwar Kumar scalped three as PBKS were restricted to 151. For Punjab, Liam Livingstone smashed 60 while Shahrukh Khan played a quick knock of 26.
Chasing 152, Sunrisers Hyderabad enjoyed a decent start as they gathered 39 runs with the loss of one wicket after the first six overs. The lone wicket in the powerplay came in the 4th over after Kagiso Rabada removed SRH skipper Kane Williamson. Williamson chipped the ball aerially towards mid-off and Dhawan timed his jump to take a good catch.
Rahul Chahar struck in the 9th and 11th over to remove Rahul Tripathi and Abhishek Sharma respectively. At 77/3, the two overseas Sunrisers batters joined hands. Aiden Markram and Nicholas Pooran batted sensibly, rotated the strike well and punished the loose balls. The duo faced no hiccups as they completed the chase with seven balls to left.
Earlier, put in to bat first, Punjab Kings openers Shikhar Dhawan and Prabhsimran Singh had a slow start as they only gathered eight runs in two overs. In the third over of the innings, SRH’s experienced bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismissed Dhawan for eight runs.
Jonny Bairstow then walked out to bat with Prabhsimran and tried to anchor the partnership for the second wicket. The opener smashed back-to-back boundaries before he was removed by T Natarajan for 14 runs in 11 deliveries. PBKS lost their two important batters in the powerplay which put Punjab under pressure. The star batter of Punjab Liam Livingstone walked out to bat and the latter hammered Marco Jansen in the sixth over of the match for 15 runs.
SRH skipper introduced Jagadeesha Suchith into the attack and the bowler justified captain’s decision as he removed Bairstow for 12 runs leaving Punjab at 48/3. Jitesh Sharma joined Livingstone on the crease to take their team’s score beyond the 50-run mark in the seventh over. In the 8th over of the innings, Umran Malik dismissed Sharma after he scored just 11 runs. After the half-way of the innings, Punjab was at 70/4.
Livingstone anchored a much-needed steady partnership with Shahrukh Khan and the duo took their team’s score beyond the 100-run mark in the 13th over of the innings. The duo also stitched up a much-needed partnership for Punjab.
Livingstone batted aggressively and notched up his half-century in 26 deliveries. On the other hand, Khan played sensibly to keep Punjab’s scoreboard moving. The brilliant partnership of 71 runs was broken as Bhuvneshwar Kumar removed Shahrukh Khan on the first ball of the 17th over leaving PBKS at 132/5.
Bhuvneshwar gave his team a much-needed breakthrough as he dismissed well-set batter Livingstone for 60. In the last over of the innings, Umran Malik struck thrice as he removed Odean Smith, Rahul Chahar and Vaibhav Arora to restrict PBKS to 151 all out.
Brief scores: Punjab Kings 151 all out (Liam Livingstone 60, Shahrukh Khan 26; Umran Malik 4-28) vs Sunrisers Hyderabad 152/3 (Aiden Markram 41*, Nicholas Pooran 35*; Rahul Chahar 2-28).