In the 37th match of the Indian Premier League 2021, Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad are locking horns in Sharjah. Both teams are relishing at the bottom of the points table and are desperate for a win to revive their campaign.
Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and opted to bowl first – the same what Chennai Super Kings did against Royal Challengers Bangalore yesterday in Sharjah. KL Rahul mentioned three changes in his playing XI with Chris Gayle, Nathan Ellis and Ravi Bishnoi coming in place of Adil Rashid, Fabian Allen and Ishan Porel. SRH went with the same XI.
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The ever-reliable opening duo of KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal looked threatening at the beginning but the introduction of Jason Holder turned things for SRH. He removed both openers in the same over and reduced PKBS to 29/2 in the first six overs.
Rashid Khan, then, bowled some economical overs and managed to get rid of dangerous Chris Gayle, who was making his comeback in this game. Aiden Markram was well set but got out at the wrong time when he was expected to score quick runs. Handy runs from the lower-order batsmen took PKBS’s total to 125/7 in 20 overs.
Holder bowled an exceptional spell of 4-0-19-3.
In response, Mohammed Shami started the proceedings with a fiery spell. He removed out-of-touch, David Warner, in the first over before removing SRH captain Kane Williamson in his next over, which eventually was a wicket-maiden. SRH were 20/2 at the end of the powerplay.
It was Ravi Bishnoi’s turn from thereon. He forced Manish Pandey into a false shot before giving a double-wicket, Kedar Jadhav and Abdul Samad. His spell reads 4-0-24-3. Wriddhiman Saha, however, was holding one end tight but a huge mix-up resulted in his wicket.
Also Read: Rashid Khan traps Chris Gayle to get rid of him cheaply, watch
Jason Holder, then, returned to show his batting prowess. He threatened to win the game single-handedly and played breath-taking shots. Nathan Ellis had the job to defend 17 runs in the final over against Holder and he somehow managed to hold on and win the game for PKBS by 5 runs. Holder strained unbeaten on 47 in 29 balls, where he smashed five big sixes.
Here is how Twitter Reacted to this game;
Holder did his best, but no support at the end out paid to #SRH’s hopes of winning. Punjab will heave a sigh of relief. Almost messed up this match too. What matters is they won and stay alive for a place in the play offs
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) September 25, 2021
#SRH are in a rut. Bishnoi running through the middle order like a hot knife through butter. Holder’s got some renown as a late order batsman. But on this track in this situation, will take something truly extraordinary from him and Saha for SRH to turn match around
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) September 25, 2021
Rashid Khan's most expensive spell in IPL: 1/55 in 4 overs vs PBKS in Mohali, 19 Apr 2018
Record vs PBKS in seven matches since
28 overs
14 wickets
Avg 8.57
SR 12.0
ER 4.28
He has conceded below 24 runs in each of his four-over spells in these seven games.#SRHvsPBKS #SRH— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) September 25, 2021
According to Match Impact, Holder's performance of 4-0-19-3 and 47* (29) is the eighth most valuable performance ever for Sunrisers Hyderabad, and the third most valuable in a defeat. The most valuable in a defeat was Henriques v RCB in 2015, with 57 (22) and 1-0-3-2. #IPL2021
— Ben Jones (@benjonescricket) September 25, 2021
I am still wondering how anyone can even think about playing an overseas wrist-spinner like Adil Rashid when there is already someone as good as Ravi Bishnoi in the squad. #PBKSvSRH
— Prasenjit Dey (@CricPrasen) September 25, 2021
