Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have had a brilliant turnaround this season after losing their first two games. Under the leadership of Kane Williamson, they have won four consecutive games to rise to the fourth position on the points table. Umran Malik's fiery finish followed by sensible run chase helped SRH dominated Punjab Kings (PBKS) and win the match by seven wickets with seven balls to spare at Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai.
Abhishek, Rahul get run chase on track
With the new ball, Kagiso Rabada gave a major jolt to SRH as they lost their skipper in the fourth over itself. In-form Rahul Tripathi contributed with a 22-ball 34 to help SRH improve after a troubled start. Abhishek Sharma and Tripathi shared a 48-run partnership for the second wicket. Rahul Chahar broke the partnership with Tripathi's wicket in the ninth over. In his next over, he sent Abhishek back to the dugout as well. Chahar's spell brought PBKS back in the game.
Markram, Pooran finish it off
However, Aiden Markram and Nicholas Pooran ensured that there is no anti-climax to the game. The unbeaten 75-run partnership helped SRH get home with seven balls to spare. Markram finished the match with a six off Vaibhav Arora. Markram remained unbeaten for 41 off 27 deliveries whereas Pooran scored 35 off 30 balls.
Top-order fails
In Mayank Agarwal's absence, stand-in skipper Dhawan did not fire and score just eight runs from 11 deliveries. He became Bhuvneshwar Kumar's first wicket of the day. Bhuvneshwar also became the highest wicket-taker during powerplay overs in the history of IPL.
Agarwal's replacement Prabhsimran Singh did not prove himself as well. Prabhsimran got out after a controversial DRS call. Skipper Williamson's late call for DRS was considered which left Jonny Bairstow fuming in the middle. Bairstow did not last long at the crease either with 12-runs from 10 deliveries. The English wicketkeeper-batter got out leg before wicket to Jagadeesha Suchith.
Livingstone’s fifty lifts Kings
Wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma disappointed as well as he got out to Malik in the eighth over. Meanwhile, Livingstone broke free and took PBKS bowlers to the cleaners. On the other end, Shahrukh struggled to score. He hit two sixes and one four in his 26-run knock but batted with a strike rate of 92.86. Livingstone got to his half-century from 26 deliveries with a boundary off Marco Jansen in the 15th over.
Malik, Bhuvneshwar finish with a bang
Bhuvneshwar came back into the attack and got the wicket of Shahrukh. Livingstone could get just one boundary ofter that and got out off the final delivery off the penultimate over. The English batter became Bhuvneshwar's 150th IPL dismissal.
In the final over, Malik did not let SRH batters score a single run. The Jammu & Kashmir bowler could not take a hat-trick but took got three wickets in the final over. A total of four wickets were lost in the last over of the innings as PBKS were dismissed for 151. Apart from Malik’s four-fer, Bhuvneshwar took three wickets for 22 runs.