After losing their first two matches, Sunrisers Hyderabad have now won four matches on the trot. Tonight, they beat Punjab Kings by seven wickets at the D.Y. Patil Cricket Stadium to storm into the top four of Indian Premier League 2022.
It was not an easy pitch to bat on as Punjab huffed and puffed to 151, thanks to a 33-ball 60 from Liam Livingstone. Other than him, only Shahrukh Khan scored more than 20 runs. Umran Malik's late flourish saw him finish with four wickets, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar took three wickets.
Sunrisers Hyderabad rode on a 177-run stand between Aiden Markram and Nicholas Pooran to complete the chase with seven balls remaining. Markram made 41 in 27 balls, while Pooran remained unbeaten on 35.
Punjab Kings 151/10 in 20 overs
Replacing the injured Mayank Agarwal, Prabhsimran Singh found back-to-back fours in the fourth over, but T. Natarajan had him caught behind the stumps next ball. Shikhar Dhawan then fell to Bhuvneshwar for an 11-ball 8. Soon after the Powerplay, Punjab lost two more wickets in quick succession. J. Suchith trapped Jonny Bairstow, who has struggled to make his mark at No. 3, pinned leg-before.
A 71-run stand between Livingstone and Shahrukh Khan brought Punjab's innings back on track. Livingstone slammed four sixes and five fours to reach his fifty as Shahrukh rotated the strike. Punjab, however, still needed them to continue with fireworks in the death overs, to reach a par total.
Bhuvneshwar and Natarajan managed to contain both batters. The former prised out the wicket of Shahrukh, whose innings had come to a stall after two early sixes.
Umran Malik then cleaned the tail with his pace. He finished with a triple-wicket maiden. A run out off the last ball of the innings saw Punjab get bowled out for 151.
Sunrisers Hyderabad 152/3 in 18.5 overs
Kagiso Rabada got Kane Williamson for a 9-ball 3, but Abhishek Sharma (31 in 25 balls) and Rahul Tripathi (34 in 22) added 48 in just over five overs to put the pressure back on Punjab. Rahul Chahar, Punjab's most disciplined bowler of the night, then got both.
However, Markram and Pooran squeezed out any chance of Punjab's comeback with their measured approach. The asking rate allowed them to take time and both forged an unbroken 75-run stand to take Sunrisers' across the target.
Punjab Kings 151 in 20 overs (Liam Livingstone 60; Umran Malik 4-28) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 152/3 in 18.5 overs (Aiden Markram 41; Rahul Chahar 2-28) by 7 wickets with 7 balls to spare. Player of the Match: Umran Malik.