Sunrisers' batting juggernaut charges into the playoffs
Prabhsimran Singh and Atharva Taide put on 97 for the first wicket off 55 balls, Rilee Rossouw hit 49 at a strike rate above 200, and Jitesh Sharma provided the closing fireworks, with 32 not out off 15. They set SRH 215.
And still it wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough to halt the batting juggernaut that Sunriser Hyderabad have been this season.
SRH lost their best batter Travis Head first ball, but raced through the powerplay thanks to Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi, who hit 66 off 28 and 33 off 18 respectively, propelling the team to 84 for 3 at the end of their first six.
From then, the scoring didn’t really slow until the target was within sight. Heinrich Klaasen SRH to the brink of victory with 42 off 26. The winning runs were hit with five balls to spare.
Dare we say something about the bowlers? Only SRH’s T Natarajan escaped with decent figures, taking 2 for 33.
SRH now move into second on the IPL table. Whether they stay there and play the Qualifier, rather than the Eliminator, depends on whether Rajasthan Royals win in the second game of the day.
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Klaasen looks to walk SRH home
SRH have lost Nitish Kumar and Shahbaz Ahmed with victory in sight, and are now five down.
But while Klaasen is at the crease, they will feel comfortable. PBKS need two more quick wickets to make a game of this.
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SRH are turning this into a cakewalk
13 No. of sixes SRH have hit in the first 13 overs. There have been 10 fours besides.
It's a six-hitting masterclass. Abhishek Sharma thundered six. Rahul Tripathi hit two. Nitish Kumar Reddy has struck three so far, and Heinrich Klaasen has got warmed up with a couple of his own.
And a score that seemed competitive, is now looking like a walk in the park. They need little over a run-a-ball now, and seem almost destined to finish this well ahead of time.
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Abhishek's fifty only his third fastest
21 No. of balls Abhishek Sharma took to cross fifty in this match
It's only his third fastest half-century this tournament. He'd earlier hit a 16-ball fifty against Mumbai Indians in late March, and a 19-ball fifty against Lucknow Super Giants about 11 days ago.
He's out for 66 off 28 though, holing out to deep point off the bowling of Shashank Singh.
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SRH well ahead on run rate after powerplay
Some big sixes have been hit, and Abhishek looks incredibly dangerous. The required rate has come down to below 9.5.
PBKS had had an incredible powerplay too, but SRH have actually scored 23 runs more than they had in theirs. Although, SRH have also lost two wickets, and PBKS still had their openers in.
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An eventful Harshal Patel over
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The second ball went for fix off the outside edge. Sharma lofted the next one for four. Tripathi then played perhaps the shot of the innings, getting low to a waist-high full toss to scoop it over the shoulder for six. But an excellent slower ball, the kind Harshal Patel is known for, gets Tripathi to sky one last ball, and PBKS have a much-needed wicket.
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Sunrisers surging through the early overs
4 Number of overs it took SRH to raise their first 50
Despite the loss of Head, Rahul Tripathi and Abhishek Sharma are making the most of the powerplay. Between them they've struck three sixes and six fours.
As I'm writing this, another six has come off Sharma's thick outside edge, and then he's come down the track and hit a four inside out. SRH well on their way here. PBKS need a breakthrough.
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SRH lose Head
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Arshdeep Singh bowls a spectacular seaming delivery that hits the very top of Travis Head's off stump, and sends Sunrisers' best batter back to the dugout first ball. Doesn't take a genius to figure PBKS chances of victory go up massively after that.
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Mid innings show
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Jitesh Sharma finishes strong
Captaining his team today, Jitesh Sharma has produced 32 off 15, hitting two sixes and a four off the last over - bowled by Nitish Kumar - to reap 19 for his team. He's helped raise them to 214 for 5, which seems like it's the low side of competitive, given the ground and the opposition. PBKS will have to bowl well.
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PBKS stuttering towards the finish
35 Number of runs PBKS have scored between the 15th and 18th over (both inclusive), for the loss of three wickets.
After 14 overs, PBKS were 151 for 1, poised to push for a total of 240, maybe.
But since then the four over have brought three wickets (including that of the two set batters, Prabhsimran and Rossouw), as well as lost their tournament top scorer Shashank Singh to a mad mix up between the wickets.
They look poised to ease past 200, but in the context of this IPL season, against this opposition, that may not be enough.
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Viyaskanth gets a wicket!
It's not a glamour bowled or stumped dismissal, but Viyaskanth, the 22yo legspinner from Jaffna has a wicket in the biggest franchise tournament in the world. What's more, its' the prized wicket of Prabhsimran. This will be wildly celebrated in his home town, and for good reason.
It was a googly, following Prabhsimran down leg as he backed away, and having caught his pad it flicked glove on the way up, and Klaasen took a good catch. The batter reviewed, but that definitely looked like it brushed glove on review.
Later in the over he drags one down and gets clattered for six over deep midwicket, but he's made a small mark on this season.
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PBKS keep rocking.
That Taide wicket has only ended up increasing the run rate.
Prabhsimran crashed Viyaskanth over long on for six in the 11th over:
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And then Rossouw and Prabhsimran hit a six each in the 12th - Prabhsimran's six off the fourth ball the more impressive, as he shuffled to off and shoveled Nitish Kumar over fine leg.
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Taide goes
It's not quite a century stand for PBKS' openers, as Taide slices a short wide Natarajan delivery to backward point, where it's caught sharply by Sanvir Singh.
But he's only taken 27 balls for his 46, and is out attacking. Job well done.
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44 No. of runs PBKS scored via boundaries (2 sixes, 8 fours) in the powerplay
Prabhsimran and Atharva Taide don't just survive the powerplay, they have Punjab Kings placed extremely well at the end of the first six over, at 61 for no loss. Given SRH have one of the most fearsome top orders in the competition they will not panic just yet. But this is as good a start as PBKS could have hoped for.
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Prabhsimran gets the run rate moving
After a couple of quiet overs to start, a couple of boundaries off the third over, bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, gets PBKS' run rate up above seven. The first of those fours was a lucky bottom-edge that sent the ball skimming past the keeper, who was standing up. But the second was a bash over midwicket.
That over:
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Viyaskanth in for SRH
Exciting news for fans of Jaffna cricket. Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, the young legspinner, gets his second match for SRH. Here's how the hosts line up.
Punjab Kings, meanwhile, look like this:
1 Prabhsimran Singh, 2 Rilee Rossouw, 3 Atharva Taide, 4 Shashank Singh, 5 Jitesh Sharma (capt, wk), 6 Ashutosh Sharma, 7 Shivam Singh, 8 Harpreet Brar, 9 Rishi Dhawan, 10 Harshal Patel, 11 Rahul Chahar. Impact Subs: Arshdeep, Thyagarajan, Choudhary, Kaverappa and Bhatia
Punjab Kings bowl
Sunrisers choose to bowl in their final home game this season. Meanwhile, our experts Tom Moody, Mitchell McClenaghan, and Wasim Jaffer look ahead to the match.
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Waddup
15 No. of points SRH have on the IPL table, which currently puts them at third.
Hey folks, welcome to what is not quite a dead rubber. Punjab Kings are out of contention for the top four, and Sunrisers Hyderabad are definitely in the playoffs. But if SRH win this afternoon, they give themselves a chance of finishing second, which would in turn put them in the Qualifier, rather than the Eliminator. (If Rajasthan Royals win tonight, SRH will finish third regardless, however.)
PBKS meanwhile, can climb past Gujarat Titans on Net Run Rate and avoid a bottom two finish, if they win this match.
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