Kings XI Punjab was playing Sunrisers Hyderabad in their sixth game of the season. They won the toss and asked SRH to bat first on a typical Test wicket on which James Anderson would love to bowl day in and out. SRH got off to a slow start and they lost their flamboyant opener Jonny Bairstow in the second over. David Warner was batting without taking any risk. He notched up his third fifty of the season and remained not out until the end; where he scored 70 runs off 62 balls including six fours and one six. They finished with 150/4 in 20 overs.
Punjab lost the early wicket of Chris Gayle but this didn’t hamper their chances to chase the target down. KL Rahul stitched a match-winning 114-run partnership for the second wicket along with Mayank Agarwal. Both players scored respective half-centuries and Rahul remained not out to take his team over the line by six wickets with one ball to spare. Have a look at the reasons for the defeat of Hyderabad.
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Slow start
Hyderabad was asked to bat first by Punjab. They were hoping for a good start from David Warner and Jonny Bairstow but this didn’t happen in Mohali. Bairstow got out in the second over of the match to Mujeen Ur Rahman. Vijay Shankar and Warner tried to stick around and play their shots when the situation arises. But they forgot to accelerate and scored just 27 runs during the fielding restrictions.
Failed to capitalize on Gayle’s early wicket
Chasing 151 runs, Punjab lost Chris Gayle early in the innings. He was dismissed by Rashid Khan on his first ball of the match. But Hyderabad failed to capitalize on this good start given by their premier spin bowler. Their powerplay specialist Mohammad Nabi, too, got failed to snare a wicket in the powerplay and conceded an early advantage to Punjab.
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KL-Mayank’s sizzling partnership
KL Rahul stitched a match-winning 114-run partnership for the second wicket along with Mayank Agarwal. Both players scored respective half-centuries and Rahul remained not out to take his team over the line by six wickets with one ball to spare. While Rahul remained unbeaten for 71 runs, Agarwal got out after scoring 55 runs to help KXIP clinch their fourth victory of the season.
