In a match dominated by fast bowlers, Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Punjab Kings by just 2 runs in a thrilling match till the last ball.
The Punjab Kings team had a challenge of 183 runs to win. Chasing this score, Punjab’s innings got off to a poor start. Pat Cummins gave Punjab their first blow by sending Bairstow back to the dugout for just 3 runs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar sent the aggressive batsman Prabhasimran Singh to the tent as well. The credit for Dhawan’s dismissal has to go primarily to wicketkeeper Klaassen. While Bhuvneshwar was bowling fast, Klaassen dealt a big blow to Dhawan by standing near the wicket. Dhawan hit 14 runs off 16 balls. He smashed two boundaries. Dhawan’s catch was put down in the slips by Samad. But was dismissed immediately a few moments later.
Within five overs of the game, Punjab Kings lost three of their leading batsmen. Bhuvneshwar Kumar increased the pressure on the Punjab team by swinging effectively and accurately. N Natarajan dismissed Sam Curran for 29 runs to pile on Punjab’s tensions. Cummins ran back and took a superb catch from Curran. Curran was expected to recover the innings. However, had to return with a contribution of 29 runs only.
Shashank Singh entered the field where it looked like the match had slipped away with 58 for 4 on the board. Sikandar Raza and Shashank Singh shared a partnership of 33 runs. Raza then returned to the pavilion with 28 runs off 22 balls. Jaydev Unadkat dismissed Raza and the wicket came in at the right time as the pair looked dangerous.
The run rate increased as the Punjab batsmen were dismissed at regular intervals. Pressure began to creep in on the batsmen. More than 15 runs were needed after the over. Shashank and Jitesh were not able to bat easily. The run rate continued to increase after the over and the chances of a victory faded away. Shashank Singh brought excitement to the match with an explosive knock of 40 runs in 24 balls. Ashutosh hit a six off the very first ball of the 20th over to increase the score in the match. Ashutosh hit another six on the second ball. Shashank Singh hit Unadkat for a six off the last ball but Punjab lost the match by just 2 runs. Sunrisers won an edge-of-a-seat thriller by 2 runs.
