Sunrisers Hyderabad leg-spinner Karn Sharma (second left) is congratulated by team-mates after dismissing David Miller of Kings XI Punjab in Mohali yesterday. (BCCI)
Agencies/Mohali
The Sunrisers Hyderabad pace attack scythed through the Kings XI Punjab to set up a 20-run win at the Indian Premier League in Mohali yesterday. They were defending a nervous total of 150, but the swing bowling of Trent Boult and Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck early to take a wicket apiece and restrict the Kings to just 36 runs in the powerplay and 130 for nine overall.
The Kings only briefly threatened: when Axar Patel and Wriddhiman Saha put on 44 runs off 4.5 overs for the sixth wicket, taking advantage of a bad drop by Ravi Bopara when Saha was on 17 and the score on 80-5. But the return of Boult for his final over broke that stand, smashing Patel’s wicket in the 18th over. Saha went on to make 41 off 33 (2x4, 1x6), when he mistimed a pull and presented Boult with his third wicket five balls later.
From there, it was downhill all the way. The green wicket, which influenced Bailey to bowl first, was not well used by his pace bowlers, but his spinners excelled, strangling the Sunrisers, especially after David Warner had gone for 58, the only innings of any substance.
They were facing a run-rate of 7.5 an over, but so poor was the response, that by the halfway stage, at 61 for four, the Kings were chasing nine an over. After 15 overs, they had exceeded the asking rate only three times.
Earlier, Warner had seemed to sense that he would have to shoulder the batting burden again, despite the fact that he had bolstered the shaky middle-order and left out Dale Steyn.
As Shikhar Dhawan (1) and Hanuma Vihari (9) came and went, Warner contributed 45 of the 56 runs accumulated in the powerplay, and continued in sublime form to 58 when the slow left arm of Axar Patel caught him in two minds and he chipped rather tamely to David Miller at long-on.
He had faced 41 balls, whacking 10 fours and a six, building a decent foundation at 76 for three at the halfway stage.
The brakes had been applied some time before, with the introduction of twin spin, the off-break of Murali Vijay and Patel. From the end of the powerplay to the 15th over, the Sunrisers were able to score just 48 runs, at just over five an over. The first 50 came off 31 balls, the next 50 took 56.
Once again the batting line-up was found wanting. Naman Ojha fell in a similar fashion to Warner, caught by Miller off Patel for 28 off 26 and Ravi Bopara (0) was caught behind off Mitchell Johnson as pace was reintroduced. The spinners had done their work on a green wicket.
Moises Henriques, brought in to add some muscle to the middle order, added 30, but it took him 32 balls to do it, with one four, at which point he was yorked by Sandeep in the last over.
Karn Sharma provided a flicker of life, hammering two sixes as the Sunrisers’ innings sunk below the horizon. Still, it was enough to cement the Kings at the bottom of the log with just two wins from seven matches.
