Sunrisers Hyderabad 152 for 3 (Markram 41*, Pooran 35*, Chahar 2-28) beat Punjab Kings 151 (Livingstone 60, Malik 4-28, Bhuvneshwar 3-22) by seven wickets
Sunrisers Hyderabad's sensational seam attack handcuffed Punjab Kings' big-hitting line-up, despite Liam Livingstone's 33-ball 60, to give them their fourth successive victory in IPL 2022. Sunrisers are now fourth on the table with eight points.
Livingstone continued to roll out the boundaries, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T Natarajan impressed with their variations once again, but it was Umran Malik who produced the most thrilling passage of play when he bowled a four-wicket last over, packed with breakneck pace, to dismiss Kings for 151. Kings lost their last five wickets for nothing as Bhuvneshwar and Malik, in particular, proved unhittable at the death.
A target of 152 was right up the alley of Sunrisers, despite the loss of Kane Williamson in the powerplay. Rahul Tripathi zoomed to 34 off 22 balls and although Rahul Chahar snagged him and Abhishek Sharma in successive overs, Nicholas Pooran and Aiden Markram iced the game with an unbroken 75-run partnership off 50 balls.
Man down...and out
Kings had suffered a major blow even before the toss, with their regular captain Mayank Agarwal sidelined from this game with a toe injury sustained during training on Saturday. Kings were dealt further blows when Bhuvneshwar and Natarajan both struck in the powerplay.
Bhuvneshwar bothered Shikhar Dhawan with hard lengths and even hit him on the box, leaving him lying flat on the floor. Dhawan, however, recovered sufficiently to resume his innings, but Bhuvneshwar had him flapping a weak pull to mid-on for 8 off 11 balls.
Soon after, Natarajan found inswing and the inside edge of Prabhsimran Singh. Neither Natarajan nor Pooran, who had caught it behind the stumps, was confident about the edge, but Williamson ultimately reviewed it in the nick of time to have the on-field not-out decision reversed. Kings managed 48 for 2 in six overs - their second-lowest powerplay score this season. They slumped further to 61 for 4 in eight overs.
Livingstone tees off
The early strikes, however, didn't stop Livingstone from showcasing his range once again. He unveiled a scooped four off the second ball he faced and three balls later, he scooped Marco Jansen for six more. Livingstone also used the extra pace of Malik to his advantage, shanking him for two sixes and a four, with the pick of them being a 106-metre six over midwicket.
When left-arm fingerspinner J Suchith dangled one too full, Livingstone pumped him down the ground for a more launguid six. Soon after, Livingstone raised a half-century, off 26 balls, his third in his last four innings.
Shahrukh gets stuck against Suchith
In stark contrast to Livingstone, Shahrukh Khan started slowly - he got off the mark on his eighth ball - and Suchith tightened the screws further by bowling into the pitch. Shahrukh scored only 14 off 13 balls off Suchith. So he tried to find runs elsewhere and swung at his Tamil Nadu team-mate Natarajan, and copped a blow on the helmet.
It was Bhuvneshwar who made the incision in the 17th over when he had Shahrukh skewing a catch to short-cover for 26 off 28 balls. The struggles of Shahrukh and then Odean Smith (13 off 15 balls) meant that Livingstone faced only seven balls in overs 16 to 19.
Malik's four-wicket last over
After having bounced out Jitesh Sharma after the powerplay, Malik dominated Kings' lower order by hitting speeds close to 150kph. He similarly bounced out Smith and then castled both Chahar and Vaibhav Arora off successive balls. Arshdeep Singh was run-out off the hat-trick ball in one of the most dramatic final-over sequences in the IPL. It was only the third time the last four wickets (7 to 10) fell in a T20 game without adding a run.
Abhishek, Tripathi steady Sunrisers
Kagiso Rabada got the new ball to stick in the DY Patil pitch and had Williamson chipping a drive to mid-off for 3 off nine balls. Tripathi dashed out of the blocks, like he usually does, hitting four fours and a six. He allowed Abhishek, the other opener, to get his eye in on a track where some balls stopped, and others came onto the bat nicely.
Tripathi kept nailing the lofted drive against Varun Chakravarthy in Sunrisers' last match against Kolkata Knight Riders, but this time when he tried to repeat it against Chahar, he picked out long-off. Unlike Varun's, Chahar's length was fractionally shorter and he got dip to mess with Tripathi's timing. In his next over, Chahar had an advancing Abhishek holing out to long-on for 31 off 25 balls.
Pooran and Markram seal victory
When Pooran and Markram came together, Sunrisers needed 75 off 57 balls. The pair needed only 50 balls to complete another chase and put Sunrisers in the top half of the table.
Pooran could have been dismissed on 16 in the 14th over had Rabada capitalised on a mix-up by effecting a direct hit. Pooran and Markram then found a higher gear, something that Kings couldn't do during their middle and end overs.
