Kings XI Punjab and Sunrisers Hyderabad learnt important lessons from their encounter on Thursday in Indian Premier League 2020.
After a rocky start to the campaign, Sunrisers Hyderabad is building momentum with three consecutive victories, with the latest win coming against Kings XI Punjab on October 8. It was comprehensive batting and bowling display from SRH to win by 69 runs against KXIP at Dubai International Stadium.
SRH posted a humungous total of 201 runs in the first innings. KXIP did show promise at various points in their innings, but they never managed to stitch a big partnership to chase down the mammoth total. KXIP needs to do a lot of thinking as they lose the fifth game of the season, while SRH will be looking to become more consistent. Here are takeaways from a one-sided clash between SRH and KXIP on Thursday.
Young Indian bowlers shine for KXIP
When an opposition scores 200 runs in 20 overs, there is hardly any positive thing to talk about the bowling unit that conceded those runs. However, this was not the case for KXIP against SRH. The senior bowlers disappointed on Thursday, but youngsters showed resilience to keep their team in the game.
Ravi Bishnoi and Arshdeep Singh came up with brilliant bowling after the second strategic break. At one point, SRH was destined to get 230-240 runs, but clever bowling from Bishnoi and Singh helped them to restrict the score to 200 runs.
They stopped the flow of runs by taking four wickets between 15th and 18th overs. The effort from these two bowlers gave KXIP a chance to chase down the target, but batsmen failed to capitalise on the momentum shift at the end of the SRH innings.
Bairstow’s quickfire 97 is ominous sign for other teams
SRH fans have been waiting for the opening pair of Jonny Bairstow and David Warner to do well together this season. The duo managed to provide the ideal start to the innings against SRH, stitching up a 160-run partnership in 15 overs.
Warner played the role of the anchor by ticking the play in the middle. He managed to score 50 runs from 37 balls. Meanwhile, Bairstow was the aggressor as the English batsman got the timing right in his shots. He missed out on a century by a whisker, scoring 97 runs in 44 balls.
Bairstow’s return to form is the biggest positive for SRH, and a warning for other teams in the tournament as the Englishman is difficult to stop when he gets going.
Rashid Khan continues to be MVP for SRH
When Nicholas Pooran was hitting the ball all over the park, there was hope for KXIP in the run chase. However, Rashid Khan had completely different plans on the night. At one end, runs were being leaked, while Khan managed to build pressure on batsmen by bowling tight lines. He was bamboozling Glenn Maxwell with googlies.
Khan’s tactic of conceding fewer runs eventually forced batsmen to make mistakes. He ended up with three wickets, which included the wicket of Pooran. Khan has not been amongst wickets this season, but he is slowly getting back to his best. On Thursday, he once again showed why he is the most valuable bowler in IPL along with Kagiso Rabada and Jasprit Bumrah.
By Kiran Thakare
