Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) kept their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 playoff hopes alive by winning a fourth successive match after Arshdeep Singh and Chris Jordan triggered a batting collapse for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Dubai on Saturday. Asked to bat first, Punjab could manage only 126/7, but it proved just about enough as KL Rahul marshaled his squad brilliantly to register the lowest successful defense this season. The win helped Punjab climb to fifth place in the points table. They now have 10 points from 11 matches (five wins and six defeats). Hyderabad are sixth with eight points from an equal number of matches (four wins and seven defeats). Catch highlights here. (SCORECARD | POINTS TABLE | SCHEDULE)
Brief scores:
KXIP: 126/7 in 20 overs (Nicholas Pooran 32, KL Rahul 27; Rashid Khan 2/14)
SRH: 114 all out in 19.5 overs (David Warner 35, Vijay Shankar 26; Chris Jordan 3/17)
11:43 PM IST: That's four wins on the trot for Punjab and the lowest total defended this season.
11:41 PM IST: Arshdeep Singh produced an impressive last over to help Kings XI Punjab beat by 12 runs. He got the wickets of Sandeep Sharma and Priyam Garg off successive deliveries, then a direct hit sent the last man Khaleel Ahmed packing.
11:36 PM IST: Chris Jordan on a HATTRICK. Jason Holder and Rashid Khan out. Brilliant over. Two wickets and three runs. Hyderabad 112/7 (19); Priyam Garg 2, Sandeep Sharma 0. Target 127.
11:24 PM IST: WICKET! Arshdeep Singh had Vijay Shankar (26 off 27) caught behind. Shankar seemed rattled by that hit. Hyderabad 110/5 (18); Jason Holder 4, Priyam Garg 0. Target 127.
11:19 PM IST: Vijay Shankar gets hit on the helmet while stealing a quick single. Medical attention required.
11:10 PM IST: WICKET! A window of opportunity for Punjab. Chris Jordan got the wicket of Manish Pandey (15 off 29). Caught at deep by a running Suchith. Hyderabad 100/4 (16.1); Vijay Shankar 20. Target 127.
11:05 PM IST: Ravi Bishnoi completed his spell. Two singles from the last, for figures of 1/13. Brilliant. Hyderabad 99/3 (16); Manish Pandey 15, Vijay Shankar 20. Target 127.
11:00 PM IST: Arshdeep Singh returned for his second over. Eight runs from it. Hyderabad 97/3 (15); Manish Pandey 14, Vijay Shankar 19. Target 127.
10:56 PM IST: Murugan Ashwin returned for his last over and leaked 10 runs. Vijay Shankar hit the first and sixth balls for fours. Hyderabad 89/3 (14); Manish Pandey 12, Vijay Shankar 13. Target 127.
10:50 PM IST: Chris Jordan continued. And just two singles from his second over. Hyderabad 79/3 (13); Manish Pandey 11, Vijay Shankar 4. Target 127.
10:46 PM IST: Ravi Bishnoi is rushing through his overs. Three from his third. Hyderabad 77/3 (12); Manish Pandey 10, Vijay Shankar 3. Target 127.
10:42 PM IST: Chris Jordan on. Just four runs from it. 22 runs and three wickets in the last five overs. Hyderabad 74/3 (11); Manish Pandey 8, Vijay Shankar 2. Target 127.
10:37 PM IST: No easy runs now. Ravi Bishnoion with his second over, and three runs from it. New man Vijay Shankar took four balls to open his account. Hyderabad 70/3 (10); Manish Pandey 6, Vijay Shankar 1. Target 127.
10:30 PM IST: Three overs, three wickets as Punjab hit back. Mohammed Shami got the wicket of Abdul Samad (7 off 5), caught by Chris Jordan. Hyderabad 67/3 (8.5); Manish Pandey 4. Target 127.
10:24 PM IST: Another WICKET. Murugan Ashwin cleaned up Jonny Bairstow (19 off 20). Abdul Samad'w new man. Hyderabad 61/2 (8); Manish Pandey 3, Abdul Samad 2. Target 127.
10:19 PM IST: Manish Pandey's new man. Paul Reiffel in focus again after three balls as KL Rahul once again review for LBW. This time the umpire was right. Wickets missing. BTW, ball grazed the back of Warner's bat... That probably exonerated the umpire. Tough one. Five runs from the over. Hyderabad 57/1 (7); Jonny Bairstow 19, Mayank Agarwal 1. Target 127.
10:13 PM IST: Well, Warner is walking, then stops near the boundary even as umpires deliberate. A clear spike, they say. Big WICKET. Bishnoi strikes first ball. Warner out for 35 off 20. Hyderabad 56/1 (6.2).
10:11 PM IST: KL Rahul's desperate review for a caught behind, off Ravi Bishnoi's second ball. The batsman in question, David Warner.
10:10 PM IST: Murugan Ashwin on with is second over. Jonny Bairstow hit the first two balls for fours on either side. Then four dots. Hyderabad 52/0 (6); David Warner 31, Jonny Bairstow 19. Target 127.
10:05 PM IST: Mohammed Shami continued but no means to stop a marauding David Warner. Got hit for fours off the fourth and fifth balls. 10 from the over. Hyderabad 44/0 (5); David Warner 31, Jonny Bairstow 11. Target 127.
10:00 PM IST: Bowling change. Murugan Ashwin on with his leg-spin. Five runs, including a four, hit by Jonny Bairstow off the fourth ball. Hyderabad 34/0 (4); David Warner 22, Jonny Bairstow 10. Target 127.
9:56 PM IST: Another good over for Hyderabad as Mohammed Shami leaked seven. Hyderabad 29/0 (3); David Warner 21, Jonny Bairstow 6. Target 127.
9:51 PM IST: Arshdeep Singh shared the new ball with Mohammed Shami. Just like the first over, David Warner hit the fourth ball for a six. 11 runs from the over. Hyderabad 22/0 (2); David Warner 17, Jonny Bairstow 2. Target 127.
9:45 PM IST: Rousing start from Hyderabad skipper David Warner. He hit Mohammed Shami for a six off the fourth ball. Ten runs from the over. Hyderabad 11/0 (1); David Warner 10, Jonny Bairstow 0. Target 127.
Innings Break
9:24 PM IST: Nine runs from the last over, bowled by T Natarajan. Punjab 126/7 (20); Nicholas Pooran 34, Ravi Bishnoi 0.
9:18 PM IST: Procession of wickets! Murugan Ashwin (4 off 4) run out. Direct hit from Vijay Shankar. Punjab 117/7 (19); Nicholas Pooran 24, Ravi Bishnoi 0.
9:12 PM IST: WICKET! Jason Holder struck again. Chris Jordan (7 off 12) caught at short fine by Khaleel Ahmed. Punjab 108/6 (18); Nicholas Pooran 17, Murugan Ashwin 2.
9:06 PM IST: Another good over for Hyderbad as Khaleel Ahmed leaked only seven runs -- a double and five singles -- from his third. Punjab 101/5 (17); Nicholas Pooran 15, Chris Jordan 5.
9:01 PM IST: T Natarajan on with his third over. And dry run continued. Not a single boundary after the seventh over. Six runs from the over. Punjab 94/5 (16); Nicholas Pooran 10, Chris Jordan 3.
8:51 PM IST: Another WICKET! Deepak Hooda (0 off 2) didn't last long. Stumped by Jonny Bairstow. Brilliant from Rashid Khan. Punjab 88/5 (14.2); Nicholas Pooran 8
Time out.
8:48 PM IST: WICKET! Glenn Maxwell's (12 off 13) pitiful form continued. Sandeep Sharma had him caught at long-on by David Warner. Punjab 87/4 (14); Nicholas Pooran 7, Deepak Hooda 0.
8:41 PM IST: T Natarajan returned for his second over. Five runs from it, including a leg bye. Punjab 80/3 (13); Nicholas Pooran 5, Glenn Maxwell 8.
All the KXIP team members wore black armbands on their sleeves to pay tribute to the demise of teammate Mandeep Singh's father.
8:35 PM IST: Jason Holder continued. Six singles. Punjab 75/3 (12); Nicholas Pooran 4, Glenn Maxwell 5.
8:30 PM IST: Another WICKET! Another biggie. Ripper from Rashid Khan. KL Rahul (27 off 27) bowled, through the gate as Punjab skipper tries an expansive drive. Punjab 69/3 (11); Nicholas Pooran 1, Glenn Maxwell 2.
8:26 PM IST: WICKET! Biggie. Jason Holder got the wicket of Chris Gayle (20 off 20), off the last ball. Caught by David Warner at long off. Punjab 66/2 (10); KL Rahul 27.
8:18 PM IST: Brilliant over from Rashid Khan. A single off the third ball as Chris Gayle played towards square leg. Just before that David Warner wasted a review, asking for a LBW against Universe Boss, at the insistence of the bowler. Wrong line, and denied. Punjab 61/1 (9); KL Rahul 25, Chris Gayle 18.
And time out!
8:13 PM IST: T Natarajan on with his medium pace. Four singles. Punjab 60/1 (7); KL Rahul 25, Chris Gayle 17.
8:09 PM IST: David Warner introduced Rashid Khan, but a rude welcome for the Afghan from Chris Gayle. Hit for a six over cow corner off the fifth ball. Before that three singles. Punjab 56/1 (7); KL Rahul 23, Chris Gayle 15.
8:04 PM IST: Bowling change. Jason Holder on with his first over. Ten runs from it. Chris Gayle hit the third and fifth balls for fours. Power play over. Punjab 47/1 (6); KL Rahul 21, Chris Gayle 8.
8:00 PM IST: Chris Gayle is the new man.
7:58 PM IST: WICKET! Sandeep Sharma had Mandeep (17 off 14) caught by Rashid Khan off the last ball of the over. That's Sandeep's 100th IPL wicket. Nice catch at deep square leg by Rashid. Punjab 37/1 (5); KL Rahul 20.
7:53 PM IST: Khaleel Ahmed with his second over. Leaked 11 runs as KL Rahul hit the fourth ball for a four, into the cow corner. Then, Mandeep Singh played a lofted shot off the last ball for a double. Half chance for David Warner. Punjab 24/0 (4); KL Rahul 13, Mandeep Singh 11.
7:47 PM IST: Sandeep Sharma continued and another good over, conceding only four runs -- a three and a single. Punjab 13/0 (3); KL Rahul 7, Mandeep Singh 6.
7:43 PM IST: Khaleel Ahmed shared new ball with Sandeep Sharma. He conceded four runs with KL Rahul hitting a boundary off the fourth ball. Punjab 9/0 (2); KL Rahul 6, Mandeep Singh 3.
7:37 PM IST: Tidy first over from Sandeep Sharma. Punjab 5/0 (1); KL Rahul 2, Mandeep Singh 3.
7:14 PM IST: In Dubai, Kolkata Knight Riders have thrashed pace-setters Delhi Capitals by 59 runs with Varun Chakravarthy claiming fifer for season's best bowling figures. Catch highlights here.
7:10 PM IST: Playing XIs -
Punjab: KL Rahul (c & wk), Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Glenn Maxwell, Mandeep Singh, Deepak Hooda, Murugan Ashwin, Chris Jordan, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh
Hyderabad: David Warner (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Manish Pandey, Vijay Shankar, Priyam Garg, Abdul Samad, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma, T Natarajan.
7:08 PM IST: One change for Hyderabad. Khaleel in for Nadeem. Two changes for Punjab. Agarwal and Neesham out, Mandeep and Jordan in.
7:03 PM IST: David Warner wins the toss and Hyderabad will bat first.
PREVIEW
The first-leg clash between Kings XI Punjab and Sunrisers Hyderabad ended in a 69-run win for SRH. The venue was Dubai and Sunrisers Hyderabad, batting first, scored 201 runs for six wickets. Jonny Bairstow missed a well-deserved century by three runs but it was the England wicket-keeper-batsman's 160-run opening wicket stand with skipper David Warner (52) that took the match away from Kings XI Punjab.
Rashid Khan and SRH pacers Khaleel Ahmed and T. Natarajan then shared the wickets to restrict the KXIP batsmen. Nicholas Pooran smashed a 37-ball 77 but rest of the KXIP batting just collapsed handing SRH a big win.
KXIP have a more settled look now. That is evident from the way they have been winning their recent games. The inclusion of Chris Gayle has definitely added muscle to the top order where skipper KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal have played leading roles in almost every game. Pooran has also proved his mettle and it was the West Indian's good work (53 off 28 balls) that saw KXIP surprise Delhi Capitals in Dubai on Tuesday.
SRH have some good news. Manish Pandey and Vijay Shankar came good in a 140-run third wicket stand against Rajasthan Royals on Thursday to give some much-needed middle order boost to the SRH batting that has been dependent on David Warner and Jonny Bairstow. In many ways, the KXIP vs SRH match could be won or lost by the middle-orders. Jason Holder's inclusion in the SRH XI also proved to be good move.
