In an enthralling game of cricket, Sunrisers Hyderabad came out on top against Kings XI Punjab thanks to a brilliant bowling effort from pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar who picked up his first-ever five-wicket haul in the Indian Premier League [IPL].
The 27-year-old has been one of the standout bowlers in the IPL this season and he was at his best once again, recording bowling figures of 5-19 to steer the Sunrisers to a five-run win at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium.
The defining moment of the game came in the 19th over of Kings XI’s chase when Bhuvneshwar dismissed Manan Vohra, playing one of the best innings the league has seen.
At one stage, the visitors looked to be out of the contest after losing six wickets with just 82 runs on the board chasing 160.
Vohra was lucky to still be at the crease having survived a huge appeal for leg-before-wicket which looked plumb off the bowling of Mohammad Nabi and the Punjab opener made full use of that opportunity. He took the attack to the Hyderabad bowlers, with 20 and 21 runs coming off the 15th and 16th overs, bowled by Barinder Sran and Rashid Khan respectively.
Vohra’s superb innings came to an end just five runs short of a well-deserved century and his dismissal more or less sealed the win for the hosts.
The Kings XI needed 11 runs to win from the final over and it was always going to be a difficult task with just one wicket left. Fast bowler Siddarth Kaul bowled two wides before eventually holding his nerve to dismiss Ishant Sharma and complete the win for David Warner’s men.
Earlier, Warner led from the front with an unbeaten 70 from 54 deliveries to take the Sunrisers total to 159-6. Although most batsmen struggled to get going, the skipper found able support from wicket-keeper Naman Ojha who struck a 20-ball 34.
Mohit Sharma and Axar Patel picked up two wickets apiece for the visitors.
With this win, Hyderabad move up to third on the table with six points from five matches while Punjab remain at the fifth position in as many games.
BRIEF SCORES
Sunrisers Hyderabad 159-6, 20 overs [Warner 70*, Ojha 34, Mohit 2-25] beat Kings XI Punjab 154 all out, 19.4 overs [Vohra 95, Bhuvneshwar 5-19] by five runs.
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