-
Alagappan Muthu
Sunrisers Hyderabad 201 for 6 (Bairstow 97, Warner 52, Bishnoi 3-29) beat Kings XI Punjab 132 (Pooran 77, Rashid 3-12, Natarajan 2-24) by 69 runs
Support acts. They’re not talked about often in an IPL game. But that was the difference between the two teams in Dubai. Jonny Bairstow walloped 97 off 55 balls, with his opening partner David Warner chipping in with 52 off 40 himself, to lift the Sunrisers Hyderabad to 201 for 6.
The Kings XI Punjab had Nicholas Pooran in breathtaking form, but his 77 off 36 was an aberration on the scorecard… because their next highest score was 11. Sunrisers’ bowling was just too good for them.
The domino effect
The Kings XI had a good plan. Load up on powerplay specialists to attack a top-heavy opposition. If only their execution was as good. There were five wides in the first over. Full tosses caressed for four in the second. Worst of all, they gave Warner room early in his innings. The Sunrisers captain hit five boundaries from his first 14 balls and cruised to his 50th IPL fifty. He brings up one of those every 2.64 (!) innings.
Heeeeeeere’s Jonny
Power. Bairstow has so much of it that it sometimes doesn’t matter what you bowl. The Kings XI tried to use Sheldon Cottrell’s left-arm angle to snag the outside edge, but all that did was offer room to be whacked over the off side. Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s mystery spin didn’t work because the batsman played him like a medium-pacer, sitting back in his crease and cross-batting him away. Ravi Bishnoi, the legspinner, was hit for 6, 4, 6 in his first over.
Bairstow went to fifty shortly after that, celebrated it by thumping Maxwell for 4, 6, 6 and showed no sign of stopping.
Full report to follow…
Source: ESPN Crickinfo