Sunrisers Hyderabad 207 for 3 (Dhawan 77, Williamson 54, Warner 51) beat Kings XI Punjab 181 for 9 (Marsh 84, Kaul 3-36, Nehra 3-42) by 26 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Shikhar Dhawan set Sunrisers Hyderabad’s win up with a 48-ball 77 © BCCI
Sunrisers Hyderabad showed intent from the outset to get ahead of Kings XI Punjab via quickfire fifties from their top-three batsmen, Shikhar Dhawan, David Warner and Kane Williamson. Thereon, Sunrisers never looked like squandering the decisive advantage they gained within the first quarter of the game, putting on the joint second-highest total of the season and following it up with another relatively comfortable defense.
Shaun Marsh put on a display of timing in a belligerent 50-ball 84, keeping Kings XI in the hunt for the majority of the chase despite an increasing required rate. However, Kings XI’s insufficient resources towards the end meant they fell 26 runs short. Sunrisers’ win pushed them to third on the points table.
Getting ahead of the game
Ishant Sharma, one of two fast-bowling inclusions for Kings XI, bowled an accurate first over and generated appreciable lateral movement. Anureet Singh, the other, started with three leg side deliveries. Dhawan flicked two boundaries. Ishant’s line was wayward in his next over. Dhawan helped himself to 20 of his first 23 runs into the leg side. Warner laid into the left-arm spin of Axar Patel, and Sunrisers plundered 60 in the Powerplay, their best this season.
The field spread but the Sunrisers openers intent didn’t change: Warner and Dhawan hit five boundaries in the first quarter of the innings and five more in the second quarter. Warner was bowled for 51, looking to swat Glenn Maxwell in the 10th over. By that time, Sunrisers had scored 107.
T20s not all about power
Williamson isn’t the most powerful of ball-strikers, especially while hitting straight. What he lacks in power, he makes up in touch. After Warner’s dismissal, Williamson took his time, accruing nine runs in nine balls. As soon as he felt a need to attack, he picked his areas and executed flawlessly.
When the spinners dropped short, Williamson pulled. When the seamers were wide, he cut. And improvised to hit behind square on either side as fatigue crept in. He faced the same number of deliveries as Warner, but scored three runs more without a muscular stroke.
Falling behind legspin
Kings XI required 141 runs off 13 overs when Warner introduced Rashid Khan. Shaun Marsh and Eoin Morgan weren’t particularly comfortable against Rashid’s legspin. So they decided to chip away as opposed to putting Rashid off his length. Before the game against Kings XI, Rashid had conceded just 48 runs off 45 balls against overseas batsmen.
While Marsh and Morgan, aware that Kings XI’s lower order was thin on batting, prodded about, the asking rate soared over 12. Rashid conceded just 16 off his four overs and had Eoin Morgan caught in the deep. It wasn’t the worst tactic, but the target proved to be too much.
Nikhil Kalro is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo