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
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. 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.
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 six balls between overs 16 and 19.
Full report to follow…
Deivarayan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
Source: ESPN Crickinfo