Mohali: KL Rahul’s unbeaten 71 and his 114-run stand for the second wicket with Mayank Agarwal guided Kings XI Punjab to a thrilling six-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad here on Monday.
The low-scoring game was decided only in the penultimate ball of the match. Mayank’s dismissal triggered a mini collapse as Punjab slumped from 132 for two to 140 for four in 19 overs. They needed 11 runs off the last over. Rahul held his nerve to take Punjab past the finish line.
Earlier, David Warner struck his fourth fifth of the season before Deepak Hooda played a cameo in the final over to lift Sunrisers Hyderabad to a challenging 150 for four against Kings XI Punjab in an IPL match here on Monday.
Opening the batting, Warner carried on his bat for an uncharacteristic 70 not out off 62 balls balls to anchor Sunrisers’ innings but it was Hooda’s unbeaten 14 off three deliveries that provided the late thrust to the visitors’ innings.
Warner struck six boundaries and one six during his knock, but it was Hooda who stole the limelight, smashing Mohammed Shami for two fours and one hit over the fence to pick up vital 15 runs off the last over.
Sunrisers suffered an early blow in the form of Jonny Bairstow (1) after being sent into bat. Bairstow failed to control a flick off Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s (1/34) bowling as Kings XI skipper Ravichandran Ashwin took a smart catch at short midwicket in the second over.
The early dismissal, together with some disciplined bowling from Kings XI, made life difficult for Sunrisers batsmen as Warner and new man in Vijay Shankar (26) found the going tough.
Scorecard
Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (not out) 70, Jonny Bairstow c Ashwin b Mujeeb Ur Rahman 1, Vijay Shankar c Rahul b Ashwin 26, Mohammad Nabi run out (Ashwin) 12, Manish Pandey c sub (KK Nair) b Mohammed Shami 19, Deepak Hooda (not out) 14. Extras (LB-5, W-3) 8. Total (for four wickets in 20 overs) 150.
FoW: 1-7, 2-56, 3-80, 4-135.
Bowling: Rajpoot 4-0-21-0, Mujeeb 4-0-34-1, Shami 4-0-30-1, Ashwin 4-0-30-1, Curran 4-0-30-0.
Kings XI Punjab: KL Rahul (not out) 71, C. Gayle c Hooda b Rashid Khan 16, M. Agarwal c Shankar b Sandeep Sharma 55, D. Miller c Hooda b Sandeep Sharma 1, Mandeep Singh c Hooda b Kaul 2, S. Curran (not out) 5. Extras (lb 1) 1. Total (for four wickets in 19.5 overs) 151.
FoW: 1-18, 2-132, 3-135, 4-140.
Bowling: Kumar 4-0-25-0, Sandeep 4-0-21-2, Rashid 4-0-20-1, Nabi 3.5-0-42-0, Kaul 4-0-42-1.
