IPL 2020, Match 22 – Sunrisers Hyderabad v Kings XI Punjab – SRH back to winning ways with 69-run victory

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) returned to winning ways and the top four with an emphatic 69-run victory over the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in their latest clash of the 2020 Indian Premier League.

Having won the toss, David Warner had no hesitation in opting to bat. He and his opening partner Jonny Bairstow then went on to bat until the 16th over, registering a mammoth 160-run partnership in the process. The duo were aided by some very ordinary bowling changes and line and length from KXIP. The only bowler whom they were cautious against initially was Mujeeb Ur Rahman, but he, too, was carted all around the park in his last couple of overs.

It was 20-year-old Ravi Bishnoi who ultimately broke through, removing both Warner and Bairstow in the space of 4 deliveries. Arshdeep Singh then caught Manish Pandey off his own bowling in the next over, and with the top 3 back in the pavilion and two new batsmen at the crease, KXIP were bolstered in their quest to make their way back in the game, and despite some late fireworks from Abhishek Sharma and Kane Williamson, they restricted SRH to 201.

ALSO READ: IPL 2020: SRH vs KXIP Game Plan 2 – Kings XI’s need to tighten up the death overs

Alas, they could not carry the momentum gained from the latter half of the first innings to the chase. KXIP suffered a huge blow in the second over itself, losing Mayank Agarwal to a dreadful mix-up. Prabhsimran Singh then smashed Khaleel Ahmed straight to the hands of Priyam Garg at point, and he was followed by his skipper two overs later, dismissed off Abhishek Sharma’s left-arm spin.

Nicholas Pooran, whose spot in the side was at a perilous position ahead of today’s game, then began counter-attacking in sumptuous fashion. He first took a liking to Abhishek Sharma and then to the leg-spin of Abdul Samad, clearing the ropes on 6 occasions against them. With support at the other end thinning up, which began with Glenn Maxwell being run out by a brilliant pick-up and throw from Priyam Garg, he had to farm most of the strike, and that was what did him in eventually.

With 76 required off the last 6 overs, Rashid Khan came on to bowl his final over. Pooran tried to play him out, protecting Ravi Bishnoi from the strike, but he eventually cut one straight to Natarajan at backward point, and with his wicket, the ship sunk for the Kings XI. They were eventually bundled out for 132 with three overs left, thereby extending their stay at the bottom of the points table.

SRH v KXIP: Major Talking points from the game

Warner & Bairstow’s massive opening partnership

Warner and Bairstow put on 160 for the first wicket

The opening pair of David Warner and Jonny Bairstow played an integral part in SRH reaching the play-offs last year, often taking matches away from their opponents all by themselves with a combination of free-flowing stroke-play and delightful displays of running between the wickets.

Although they did have one 50+ run opening partnership against the Delhi Capitals this year, the fluidity and the free-flowingness had been missing from the duo until today. The main reason behind the same can be attributed to Bairstow not firing with the bat since the RCB game. But today, the England opener came out all guns blazing, prompting his skipper to play second fiddle.

Feasting on some very ordinary bowling and tactics from KXIP, Warner and Bairstow put on 160 for the first wicket, with both getting half-centuries, Bairstow agonizingly missing out on his hundred by 3 runs. While we had witnessed some electrifying running between the wickets from the two in the past few matches, the boundaries had been hard to come by, and Bairstow’s return to form today accounted for that.

Ravi Bishnoi bringing his team back in the game

Bishnoi returned figures of 3/29 off 3 overs today

The way Bairstow and Warner were striking the ball, a total in excess of 230 was well and truly on the cards. Ravi Bishnoi, who had been smashed for 18 in his first over, was brought back in the 16th over to get that much-needed breakthrough. He did break through all right, not just once, but twice, first getting Warner caught at long-on and then trapping Bairstow in front three balls later. A single taken by Manish Pandey after Bairstow’s dismissal was the only run from that over.

That over seemed to shift the momentum momentarily towards KXIP, even more so when Manish Pandey chipped a catch back to Arshdeep Singh first ball of the next over. Bishnoi struck again in his next over, accounting for yet another danger-man – Abdul Samad, slipping in a quicker one and getting him to hit the ball down the throat of Arshdeep at square leg.  From 160 for no wicket in the 15th, SRH ended up with 201 off their 20 overs managing 41 off the last 5, and KXIP were in with a good chance.

Abdul Samad’s bowling career in the IPL in danger after 28-run over

Pooran smashing one of his seven sixes tonight

With KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal, two of KXIP’s most reliable batsmen this year back in the shed, KXIP’s chase seemed to have hit a roadblock. Nicholas Pooran, who was in danger of being replaced by veteran opening batsman Chris Gayle today, only for the Jamaican to fall ill ahead of the game, then decided to unleash himself on the part-time leg-spin of Abdul Samad. Four sixes and a boundary were hit over long-on, long-off and mid-wicket in the over, helping Pooran bring up a much-needed fifty for him in the process.

The lack of support at the other end meant that Pooran capitulated to the pressure eventually, but now the SRH think-tank will think twice before calling Samad on to bowl to a set batsman, even more so to a rampant left-hander. As for Pooran, with his blazing 77-run knock, he now has pushed the axe over the neck of Glenn Maxwell, who has not been able to bring his form from the limited-overs series against England to the IPL this year.

ALSO READ: IPL 2020: SRH vs KXIP Game Plan 1 – The Rashid Khan Threat Looms Large

SRH v KXIP: Moments you may have missed

Maxwell’s McGrath Moment (Almost)

We don’t get to see fielders using their feet to stop a Cricket ball from hitting the boundary ropes nowadays, the only exceptions being in the case of tall and lanky fast bowlers doing so. To think that a gun fielder such as Glenn Maxwell would do so in an IPL game, and the manner in which he did made it look even more hilarious and dangerous at the same time.

Here’s what happened – Jonny Bairstow punched the 1st ball of the 6th over of the SRH innings through the covers. The length of the boundary towards that side of the ground and the slowness of the outfield meant that Bairstow was always going to get three, which may have played on Maxwell’s mind as well, as instead of opting for a dive, he chose to tiptoe over the ball and stop it with the sole of his boot. While if was effective in nature, had he had more momentum on his sprint, he might have ended up treading over the ball with his entire body weight, which could have resulted in a tournament-skipping injury, similar to Glenn McGrath’s before the 2nd Test of the 2005 Ashes.

Anil Kumble unveiling plans to include Chris Gayle in XI in an interview mid-game

Kings XI Punjab coach Anil Kumble, while replying to a question from Mark Nicholas about the inclusion of Punjab wicketkeeper-batsman Prabhsimran Singh in the XI with two keepers in KL Rahul and Nicholas Pooran already present in the side, let slip that they had intended on playing Chris Gayle, who had been warming the bench since the beginning of this year’s IPL, in place of Nicholas Pooran today. The reason why Gayle couldn’t make it to the XI today was because he hadn’t recovered from being ill before the game.

Kumble further elaborated that KL Rahul needed a break from glovework duties to be able to focus on his captaincy and batting, hence the Kings XI Punjab management opted for the services of Prabhsimran, who replaced Sarfaraz Khan in the XI today.

Third Umpire referred the same decision twice

Mujeeb Ur Rahman, having been adjudged caught behind off the bowling of Khaleel Ahmed in the 14th over of the chase after the umpires sent the decision upstairs to check whether the ball had bounced at any stage before the catch was completed, had made peace with the adjudication and started to walk back, but then, he decided to turn around and review the decision, probably prompted by a message from the dugout.

The third umpire, Yeshwant Barde, who had checked everything about the validity of the dismissal, now had to review his own decision again, a first in the IPL. Barde went through another routine check and asked the on-field umpires to stick with the decision, and Mujeeb eventually resumed his walk back to the dugout.