Chasing seems to have been the winning formula in IPL 2017, but that was not to be for Kings XI Punjab against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Mohali on Friday. SRH scored 207 runs from their alloted 20 overs, and the home team could only score 181 runs in the second innings, allowing David Warner's side their fifth victory of the season.
It was the brilliance of Warner, Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson, which played a huge hand with the bat to post such an impressive total on the board for SRH. Even the brilliance of Shaun Marsh, who scored 84 runs, was not enough for the home team to cross the finishing line.
Right from the outset, the SRH batsmen were in complete control of the innings. It was Shikhar, who started well, dealing in boundaries and Warner (51, 27b, 4x4, 4x6) joined into the act, hitting some lusty blows. The opening pair did not have not any problem against the pacers and seamers as they were scoring at 10 runs per over.
Even after the first six overs, they were in no mood to take it easy against the KXIP bowlers, who were hit all around the park. They were involved in a 107-run opening partnership, but Warner lost his wicket to Glenn Maxwell after completing yet another fifty in the 10th over.
The Australian had set a perfect base for the rest of the batsmen to score big in the next 60 balls. The onus was on Shikhar, who kept the momentum going. SRH batsmen, even after Warner was back in the dug out, played some wonderful cricket shots Shikhar (77, 48b, 9x4, 1x6) looked in complete control of his innings, smacking the ball perfectly into the gaps for boundaries.
Trying to up the ante, Shikhar, who looked set for his maiden T20 hundred, was held in the deep by Maxwell.
With more than five overs to go, Kane Williamson (54, 27b, 4x4, 2x6) and Yuvraj Singh were looking good to end the innings with a flourish, but the left-hander, after a couple of boundaries, was out for 15 runs.
At the end, it was the brilliance of Williamson, who destoyed Ishant Sharma in the 19th over, where he hit two fours, one six and took three couples to score 20 runs. The Kiwi batsman completed his fifty in the final over to play an important role in scoring more than 200 runs in Mohali.
KXIP, without in-form Hashim Amla, had to depend on Martin Guptill for a blistering knock at the top of the order while chasing the mammoth total. The New Zealander did show promise, starting well for the home team.
But, his innings did not last long as Guptill was out for a quick fire 11-ball 23. Things went from bad to worse as Manan Vohra and Maxwell were out within the first five overs. Shaun Marsh and Eoin Morgan were trying their best to keep KXIP in the game, but their task was made difficult by Rashid Khan, who bowled some tight spell to contain both the batsmen.
However, they were not completely out of the game with Marsh (84, 50b, 14x4, 2x6) going great guns in the clash, completing his half-century as well. The problem being – he was running short of partners, as Morgan was out in the 13th over, followed by Wriddhiman Shah after two overs.
It was getting too much for Marsh to do it all alone, and with KXIP still requiring 64 runs from the last 28 balls, he skied the ball, which was caught by Deepak Hooda, who had dropped him earlier as well.
From there on it was always going to be difficult, and KXIP finished with 181 runs on the board.
Kings XI Punjab vs Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL 2017 scorecard
SRH: 207/3 in 20 overs.
KXIP: 181/9 in 20 overs.
Result: SRH won by 26 runs
Bowling: KXIP: Ishant Sharma 4-0-41-0; Anureet Singh 2-0-26-0; Mohit Sharma 3-0-34-1; Axar Patel 3-0-34-0; KC Cariappa 4-0-42-0; Glenn Maxwell 4-0-29-2.
SRH: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4-0-27-2; Ashish Nehra 4-0-42-1: S Kaul 4-0-36-3: Deepak Hooda 1-0-17-0; Moises Henriques 3-0-39-0; Rashid Khan 4-0-16-1;
Fall of wickets: SRH: 1-107, Warner (9.6 ov), 2-147, Dhawan (14.2 ov), 3-171, Yuvraj Singh (17.1 ov)
KXIP: 1-26, Guptill (2.2 ov), 2-37, Vohra (3.5 ov), 3-42, Maxwell (4.6 ov), 4-115, Morgan (13.1 ov), 5-138, Saha (14.6) 6-144 Marsh (15.4 ov), 7-162, Patel (17.4 ov), 8-175, MM Sharma (19.2 ov), 9-181 Anureet Singh (19.6 ov)
