IPL 2020: Kings XI Punjab beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 12 runs

Sunrisers Hyderabad have convincingly lost the evening fixture of IPL doubleheader day, on October 24, with a lovely show of death bowling by Chris Jordan and Arshdeep Singh followed. KL Rahul's KXIP registered a 12-run win in the evening game after KKR thrashed DC, by 59 runs, in the day fixture on October 24.

After having won the toss at the Dubai International Stadium, Sunrisers Hyderabad opted to bowl first. Kings XI Punjab had a couple of changes in the side which included injured Mayank Agarwal sitting out. As a result, Mandeep Singh opened for the first time in IPL 2020 with captain KL Rahul. The top-order batsman from Jalandhar recently lost his father, the reason why KXIP were wearing armbands during the clash against SRH.

However, the 28-year-old failed to make it big and was dismissed for 7 off 14 in the 5th over, by his state teammate Sandeep Sharma. The 27-year-old right-arm pacer, thus, bagged his 100th Indian Premier League wicket as KXIP faced their first hiccup of the night. After Chris Gayle’s (20 off 20) dismissal in the 10th over, wickets fell in quick succession hitting hard on KXIP’s cause. KL Rahul (27 off 27) fell just two deliveries within Gayle’s dismissal and apart from a little effort by Nicholas Pooran (32 off 28), Punjab batsmen failed to put up a good show.

KXIP lost 7 wickets as they toiled to get to a half-decent total of 126/7 at the end of 20 overs. Pacers Sandeep Sharma and Jason Holder bagged a couple of wickets each and so did Rashid Khan, but the legspinner was a standout due to his economical 2/14.

Chasing 127, SRH had a fairly good start with openers David Warner and Jonny Bairstow adding 52/0 in the first six overs. However, Warner fell soon after the Powerplay after his splendid 20-ball



35.

David Warner joined the Sunrisers Hyderabad franchise in 2014, and has scored 36 fifties out of 46 in total in the IPL for SRH alone. However, as Warner was dismissed for 35 tonight against KXIP, it became the first such instance for the veteran opener to not reach a fifty in five successive IPL innings since 2014. Warner, who has 2 fifty-plus scores in IPL 2020, has scored: 35, 4, 47*,9, 48 in his last five appearances.

After Warner’s fall, thanks to Ravi Bishnoi, Bairstow (19 off 20) followed suit in the very next over as he fell to Murugan Ashwin. The third wicket, of Abdul Samad, in the 9th over, almost made it seem as if SRH will cause a blunder somewhere in the chase. However, considering the no demand for acceleration in the chase, SRH continued without much worry. All-rounder Vijay Shankar, who couldn’t bowl due to his injury suffered while fielding, guided Hyderabad with the bat even as Manish Pandey (15 off 29) fell in the 17th over. Unfortunately for SRH, Shankar (26 off 27) fell to the ground after a throw hit him on the head and was out next ball, lucky for Arshdeep Singh. Then came the massacre for KXIP. Both Chris Jordan and Arshdeep Singh totally bamboozled the SRH batsmen as they were able to add just 4 runs from wickets 5 to 9, taking the game completely away from SRH.

Both bowling sides showed immense character in the game, whereas both batting units failed to make a significant difference and struggled throughout the game.

However, both the teams in question remain intact at their positions in the points table with KXIP at 6 and SRH at 5. Both Punjab and Hyderabad are falling behind in the race for playoffs as Eoin Morgan’s Kolkata Knight Riders have pretty much secured a position with 12 points. KKR won the day fixture of Saturday’s doubleheader.