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Hyderabad: Kings XI Punjab redefined the definition of brutality as they chased down 206 with three overs to spare in the league match against Sunrsiers Hyderabad at Uppal on Wednesday.
Glenn Maxwell and Wriddhiman Saha put in a fantastic display of power-hitting as KXIP chased down a daunting target of 206 with six wickets in hand and with eight balls to spare. With this win, KXIP and CSK have almost secured qualification for the knockouts in IPL 7.
Virender Sehwag started off with a boundary for the fourth consecutive match but Bhuvneshwar Kumar snapped him up in the very next ball.
After Sehwag falls, Saha and Vohra batted with an aggression which left SRH stunned. Dale Steyn, the world's best bowler, was taken to the cleaners when both Vohra and Saha carted him for 15 runs. This assault set the stage for some amazing hitting as they notched up the team hundred in just 45 balls, the fastest ever team hundred in IPL history. Saha, for good measure, slammed a fifty off just 22 balls. The 91-run stand off 41 balls had given KXIP the perfect platform
For the first time in this IPL, Maxwell went ballistic without any pressure and he did not disappoint. In his first four balls, he blasted three sixes off Karn Sharma and he did not look back from that point. When a player is in such form, the opposition cannot afford to make mistakes. However, try telling it to Amit Mishra, the IPL's second highest wicket-taker.
He bowled a quick, short delivery on middle stump and Maxwell top-edged the pull to mid on. Steyn ran back to take the catch but Mishra had overstepped. The mood in the fans summed up the moment perfectly. Glum faces and a sense that all would be lost was evident. The carnage continued until Mishra got Maxwell out for 43 off 22 balls. Following Maxwell's departure, Sharma and Mishra put in two tight overs as SRH hoped for a miracle.
The display by Saha, Maxwell and Bailey upstaged a belligerent 29-ball fifty from Naman Ojha (79*) which helped Sunrisers Hyderabad reach a massive 205/5. On a sluggish wicket, Shikhar Dhawan and Aaron Finch got off to a slow start as SRH crawled to 23/0.
However, one over from Sandeep Sharma changed the equation for both teams. He started off the fifth over with two no-balls and his second no-ball disappeared for a boundary. Dhawan used his feet and thumped Sandeep for two more fours and a six as 26 runs were conceded in the fifth over.
This gave SRH momentum. While Dhawan was motoring along at one end, Finch was struggling. The introduction of spin, in the form of Shivam Sharma and Aksar Patel, pulled the run-rate back a touch.
However, Shivam broke the 65-run stand by bowling Finch for 20. Dhawan, whose previous highest score in IPL 7 was 37, registered his highest score by slamming Akshar for a six. Rishi Dhawan got the big breakthrough when he had the SRH skipper whipping a leg side ball to short fine leg.
Sandeep returned in the 19th over and the nightmare continued. He conceded a further 26 runs and finished up with figures of 4-0-65-1, the third most expensive figures in the IPL ever. In the end, SRH slammed runs in the last five overs as they finished with 205/5.
Earlier, Kings XI Punjab captain George Bailey won the toss and invites Sunrisers to bat in the match no. 39.
Retained player Manan Vohra finally in for Kings XI, along with Shivam Sharma, Parvinder Awana and Mandeep Singh dropped. Sunrisers are unchanged.
Teams
Hyderabad: Shikhar Dhawan (Capt.), Aaron Finch, Lokesh Rahul, David Warner, Naman Ojha (wk), Irfan Pathan, Moises Henriques, Amit Mishra, Karn Sharma, Dale Steyn, Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Punjab: Virender Sehwag, Manan Vohra, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Glenn Maxwell, David Miller, George Bailey (Capt.), Mitchell Johnson, Rishi Dhawan, Akshar Patel, Shivam Sharma, Sandeep Sharma
Brief scores
Sunrisers Hyderabad - 205/5 (Ojha 79*, Dhawan 45, Warner 44)
Kings XI Punjab - 211/4 (Saha 54, Vohra 47, Maxwell 43, Bailey 35*)
Result - Kings XI Punjab won by 6 wickets
Points - Kings XI Punjab 2, Sunrisers Hyderabad 0
