IPL 2019: 22nd Match, Kings XI Punjab vs Sunrisers Hyderabad – Match Review; It proved to be a thoroughly professional performance by Kings XI Punjab as they won the 22nd match of Vivo IPL 12 against the Sunrisers Hyderabad by 6 wickets to get their campaign back on track.
It will be a pleasing victory for the Ravichandran Ashwin led Kings XI Punjab especially after a big loss against the Chennai Super Kings. The Hyderabad bowlers made a terrific comeback in the final two overs to turn the match on its’ head. Eventually KL Rahul held his nerves and won them the match with a delivery to spare.
The turning point of the match
There is certainly no doubt about the fact that the terrific partnership between KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal proved to be the game changer for the Kings XI Punjab. Chasing a target of 151 runs, Punjab lost the wicket of Chris Gayle early. However, KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal steadied the ship for Punjab with a match-winning partnership which eventually helped Punjab coast to a comfortable victory in the end.
Kings XI Punjab vs Sunrisers Hyderabad- 2nd innings
It was Chris Gayle and KL Rahul who came out to chase 151 to register their 4th victory of the tournament. The big man from Jamaica played some lusty shots to start with but was soon dismissed by Rashid Khan in the very first ball he faced of the spinner. The southpaw went for a six in the very first fall and found out the fielder in the deep. It was a big blow to Punjab.
However, it was KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal who forged together a brilliant partnership to help Punjab storm their way back into the game. KL Rahul who had a torrid time with the bat coming into the match played a match-winning knock and struck the boundaries in important junctures of the game. Rahul worked the singles and the twos to perfection and so did Mayank Agarwal.
Agarwal, in particular, played the big shots to perfection and looked in tremendous touch. Both the batters completed useful half-centuries and looked well set to finish the match with 9 wickets in hand. However, Mayank Agarwal was dismissed of Sandeep Sharma as he attempted to hit yet another big shot.
Sunrisers Hyderabad got their 3rd wicket of the same over as David Miller was also dismissed while attempting to finish the match off. Punjab lost two more wickets which changed the complexion of the match. The final over was handed to Mohammad Nabi, He bowled 3 good deliveries but eventually conceded a four and a double to KL Rahul as Punjab won the match by 6 wickets and with a delivery to spare.
Scoreboard
Kings XI Punjab vs Sunrisers Hyderabad- 1st innings
Openers David Warner and Jonny Bairstow came out to start proceedings and wanted to get their franchise off to a good start as they have done for the majority of the tournament. However, Jonny Bairstow was dismissed in just the 2nd over of Mujeeb-ur-Rahman as the wicket-keeper batsman went for a big shot.
His wicket proved to be the game changer as David Warner went to a shell and restricted his strokeplay considerably. Vijay Shankar batted well and shared a good partnership. However, just when he looked to play the big shots, Shankar was dismissed by Ravichandran Ashwin after making 26 of 27 deliveries. SRH never got a flow to their innings despite not losing too many wickets.
David Warner did strike a few big shots towards the final few overs and took his individual score to 70 of 62 deliveries which included 6 fours and a six. However, it was a couple of fours and a last ball six by Deepak Hooda of Mohammad Shami which propelled Punjab to the 150 mark. Mujeeb-ur Rahman, Mohammed Shami and Ravichandran Ashwin bagged a wicket each for the home team.
Scoreboard
