Abhishek Sharma stars in facile 200-plus chase as Punjab Kings beaten by four wickets despite Prabhsimran Singh’s heroics.
Synopsis: Abhishek Sharma’s blitz in the Powerplay, with Rahul Tripathi’s support, followed by smart batting from Nitish Reddy and Heinrich Klassen helps Sunrisers Hyderabad end league stage on a high
Abhishek-led Powerplay
Throughout their campaign, SRH has looked like a near-perfect team batting first, but have often crumbled chasing totals. The hunt for 215 started in similar fashion when Arshdeep Singh bowled a peach of a delivery to get rid of Travis Head. But then comeback man Rahul Tripathi and Abhishek Sharma tucked into Punjab bowlers.
Abhishek, with his sublime bat-swing, slammed six sixes taking his tally to 41 sixes for the season, the most thus far.
🎥 Weekend Watch
Abhishek Sharma entertains Hyderabad with 66(28) 🧡
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Punjab tried to restrict the partnership with slower ones, but it didn’t work. By the time Harshal Patel got Tripathi, the damage had already been done.
Nitish, Klaasen practise range-hitting
In between overs, Nitish Reddy’s swing made contact with the ball, it went flying into the stands. The young all-arounder found an excellent blend between attack and defence which made sure SRH maintained the momentum even after the Powerplay.
Nitish’s partner in the middle phase, Heinrich Klaasen walked out to a loud cheer from the crowd and didn’t disappoint. The South African seemed intent on testing his six-hitting ability. As soon as a spinner came on, Klaasen transferred his weight onto the backfoot and targeted the long-on region.
After a while, it was controlled aggression as the South African took the hosts close before getting bowled trying a scoop shot against Harpreet Brar. But Sanvir Singh hit the boundary to seal SRH’s fifth home win of the season.
Prabhsimran tees off
The Punjab opener has threatened to play a blistering innings throughout the season. Prabhsimran and Atharva Taide stitched a 97-run opening partnership to put SRH under pressure.
While the left-handed Taide relied more on timing, Prabhsimran cleared his left leg to access the leg side. Anything pitched up was hit through the mid-wicket region and from time to time, he played a couple of cheeky scoops .
Confidence 🤝 Execution
Positive strokeplay from the new Punjab Kings opening duo ❤️
They end the Powerplay at 61/0 👌
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On a wicket which was not providing any movement, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Pat Cummins were either too full or too short. It was T Natrajan who got the first breakthrough, getting Taide in the 10th over. However, Rilee Rossouw, the only overseas Punjab player in the XI, played his part. His timely cameo gave further impetus to the innings.
However, SRH got lucky when Prabhsimran tried to heave a ball from Vijayakanth Viyaskanth on the leg-side and the ball hit the foot and looped in the air to brush the glove before ‘keeper Klaasen grabbed it. Captain for the day, Jitesh Sharma provided the finishing touch with a 15-ball 32 to help Punjab get to 214.
Brief scores: Punjab Kings 214/5 in 20 overs (Prabhsimran 71, Rossouw 49, Taide 46; Natarajan 2/33) lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad 215/6 in 19.5 overs (Abhishek 66, Klaasen 42) by 4 wickets.
Source:indianexpress.com