When defending a low total, like the Sunrisers Hyderabad regularly seem to do, the most crucial aspect is to pick up early wickets. That job becomes a lot easier, and likely even, when you have the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and the incomparable Dale Steyn in your ranks.
Staring at a possible fifth defeat in seven matches, the Sunrisers bowlers came to the fore in some style to restrict the in-form Rajasthan Royals to a score just above 100 and pick up a much-needed victory.
Bhuvneshwar was the catalyst towards the win, picking up the big wicket of Ajinkya Rahane in the first over, before snuffing out any chances of a late comeback from the Royals by snatching three wickets in on over.
"We have one of the best bowling lineups in the IPL and we knew the wicket was not easy to bat on," Kumar told IPL's official website after SRH's 32-run win on Thursday night. "It was a slow wicket and a turning one and we were confident that we could defend the low score.
"Tonight, we showed what we are known for and this will keep us in a good frame of mind for the matches to come. This performance and win will not only boost my confidence, but also the team's morale in the tournament.
"The most satisfying thing about this performance is that it came at a time when we needed it the most. We were a bit low on confidence and this win will definitely boost us for rest of the tournament."
SRH could not have scripted a better bowling and fielding performance, with the fast bowlers scalping a couple of big wickets early on, before the spinners did their business by keeping the runs down to a minimum. The fielding was also outstanding, with that David Warner run out to end a crucial partnership between Steven Smith and Stuart Binny worth the price of the ticket on its own.
"Dale Steyn and I got the team off to a good start, whereas Karn Sharma and Amit Mishra kept it tight in the middle overs, which was very crucial," Kumar added. "Towards the death, Dale, Irfan Pathan and myself again got wickets when needed to round off a complete bowling performance by the side.
"Our fielding was brilliant too. The timing of David Warner's run out to get rid of Stuart Binny was perfect. Similarly, Irfan Pathan kept his cool to take a stunning catch to dismiss Steven Smith, which helped in turning the game in our favour. You need moments like these while defending small totals."
The four for 14 figures for Kumar helped him take ownership IPL Purple Cap for the moment, with the SRH swing bowler jumping to 14 wickets in IPL 2014, tied with CSK's Mohit Sharma.
"Being a bowler, you always want to cling on to the Purple Cap," Kumar said. "There is still a lot of cricket to be played and there are others on the list vying for the cap. All I can do is perform to the best of my abilities and try and hold on to it."
