In the 70th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, Punjab Kings (PBKS) defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by five wickets at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Captain Bhuvneshwar Kumar won the toss and asked PBKS to bowl first. Losing the toss gained huge momentum for the Punjab based team in the first innings as they restricted SRH to an under-par score. A fabulous bowling performance by Harpreet Brar throughout the match helped Punjab to chase a low score in the second innings. Nathan Ellis also was on fire in the death overs which allowed Hyderabad to reach only 157/8 in 20 overs.
In the chase, PBKS started off in a spectacular fashion as both the openers, Shikhar Dhawan (39) and Jonny Bairstow (23) were smashing bowlers all around the park right from the word go. Bairstow got the start but couldn’t take it forward, unfortunately. Shahrukh Khan (19) also looked fearless in his approach as he scored with a strike rate of 190. Liam Livingstone (49*) once again showed his class and took PBKS over the victory line. With the strike rate of over 220, the Englishman hammered five sixes and two fours which ensured PBKS’s victory in just the 16th over. Along with him, Jitesh Sharma’s (19) quickfire contribution also helped the team chase this total.
In the first innings, Abhishek Sharma (43) was the only batter who contributed some heavy runs. Rahul Tripathi (20) and Aiden Markram (21) also were decent enough in the middle overs. In the end, Washington Sundar (25) and Romario Shepherd (26) took the Hyderabad based franchise to a respectable yet under par score. SRH would have definitely wanted more runs to defend as they only posted 157 runs.
Brar was in amazing form with the ball as the 26-year-old grabbed three wickets in his quota of four overs. Along with him, Nathan Ellis also got three wickets. Kagiso Rabada managed to get one wicket as well tonight.
For SRH, Fazalhaq Farooqi got two wickets tonight and with him, Umraan Malik, Jagadeesha Suchith and Washington Sundar got one wicket each.
Harpreet Brar won the Man of the Match for his brilliant bowling performance. With this win, PBKS also have 14 points in their kitty but unfortunately are out of the tournament.
Scorecard:
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 157/8, Overs 20, Abhishek Sharma 43, Harpreet Brar 3/26
Punjab Kings: 160/5, Overs 20, Liam Livingstone 49, Fazalhaq Farooqi 2/32