Hyderabad, Apr 20: A clinical Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Kings XI Punjab comfortably by five wickets to register their fifth win in the India Premier League to move to the top of the points table on Friday.
By virtue of a disciplined bowling effort, Sunrisers first restricted Kings XI to 123 for nine and then rode on Hanuma Vihari’s 46 and Thissara Perera’s quickfire 11-ball unbeaten 23 to finish on 127 in 18.5 overs.
Chasing a modest 124, Sunrisers lost Quinton de Kock in the fourth ball before Vihari and Akshath Reddy (19) steadied the ship.
Vihari and Reddy shared 48 runs off 43 balls for the second wicket before Azhar Mahmood pulled off a one-handed stunner at mid-off off off Manpreet Gony to send back Reddy.
Vihari made a fine 46 off 39 balls with the help of five fours before leg-spinner Piyush Chawla tempted him to play a poor short and was easily caught by David Hussey. Skipper Cameron White (16 off 23) and Biplab Samantray (10) got starts but failed to capitalise on them.
While White was bowled by a low Gony delivery, Samantray fell leg before wicket to Mahmood as the equation became tough for the Sunrisers.
Sunrisers needed 18 off the last two overs, but big-hitting Perera made it look easy and smacked Mahmood for three huge sixes to chase down the target with seven balls to spare.
Earlier, Kings XI floundered a good position to be restricted to 123 for nine. Placed at 102 for four after 16 overs, Kings XI lost their next five wickets for just 21 runs to be restricted under the 125-run mark.
Opting to bat, Kings XI did not have the best of starts as they lost their first three wickets inside the 50 runs. Opener Mandeep Singh was the first to depart in the third over, top-edging a short Ishant Sharma delivery to wicket-keeper de Kock who took a good running catch.
Kings XI captain Adam Gilchrist then tried to forge a partnership along with Paul Valthaty. Gilchrist showed glimpses of his past when he cut and pulled Perera for three boundaries in his first over to pick up 12 runs. But with the wicket providing considerable assistance to the spinners, Kings XI’s scoring rate slowed down.
Karan struck twin blows in the ninth over in the form of Gilchrist and Valthaty, who fell in a span of three balls.
Gilchrist’s decision to send Chawla up the order to do some pinch hitting worked wonders as he made quick 23 runs off just 15 balls. Together with Hussey, he added 40 runs off just 31 deliveries for the fourth wicket to provide some momentum to Kings XI’s innings.
Chawla was going great guns until a run out cut short his stay.
Hussey, who made 22 off 24 balls with the help of one four and a six, departed a over later in search of quick runs.
Kings XI lost their remaining five wickets quickly, courtesy some insensible cricket from their batsmen.
score board
KINGS XI PUNJAB: Mandeep Singh c de Kock b I Sharma 10, Adam Gilchrist c I Sharma b K Sharma 26, Paul Valthaty c Perera b K Sharma 6, David Hussey c Reddy b I Sharma 22, Piyush Chawla (run out) 23, Gurkeerat Singh b Steyn 17, Azhar Mahmood c Ashish Reddy b Mishra 4, Manpreet Gony (run out) 0, Manan Vohra c I Sharma b Mishra 0, Dimitri Mascarenhas (not out) 5, Praveen Kumar (not out) 3. Extras (B-4, LB-1, W-2) 7. Total (for 9 wkts, 20 overs) 123.
Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-47, 3-48, 4-88, 5-104, 6-114, 7-115, 8-115, 9-115. Bowling: Hanuma Vihari 1-0-2-0, Dale Steyn 4-0-14-1, Ishant Sharma 4-0-29-2, Thisara Perera 4-0-25-0, Karan Sharma 3-0-19-2, Amit Mishra 4-0-29-2.
SUNRISERS?HYDERABAD: Quinton de Kock b Praveen 0, Akshath Reddy c Azhar b Gony 19, Hanuma Vihari c Hussey b Chawla 46, Cameron White b Gony 16, Biplab Samantray lbw Azhar 10, Thisara Perera?(not out) 23, Ashish Reddy?(not out) 7. Extras (B-4, LB-1, W-1) 6. Total (for 5 wkts, 18.5 overs) 127.
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-48, 3-70, 4-87, 5-97. Bowling:?Praveen Kumar 3-1-12-1, Dimitri Mascarenhas 4-0-25-0, Azhar Mahmood 3.5-0-36-1, Piyush Chawla 4-0-25-1, Manpreet Gony 4-0-24-2.
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