Hyderabad: Afghan guns boomed. The Punjab Kings were doomed. That was pretty much the story on a manic Monday as the rookies from a cricket-obscure country shook the IPL in a double barrel show. Seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar added to the arsenal with a five-wicket haul that sealed the deal. Punjab opener Manan Vohra was the lone ranger, firing relentlessly from the trenches until he was the ninth man out in the penultimate over.
The gritty batsman smashed a fighting 95 that came off 50 balls and was embellished with nine boundaries and five sixes. Midway through, mystery spinners from Afghanistan Mohammed Nabi and Rashid Khan turned the game for the hosts as they defended a measly 159 with aplomb to wrap the visitors for 154. Bhuvneshwar took 5 wickets while conceding 19 runs in his four overs to provide the finishing touch in a humdinger that was decided with two balls to go.
Nabi’s economical figures read 4-0-28-1 while Rashid took 2 for 42 in his four overs, the last one going for 21. Both bowlers had their victims clean bowled to set the stands alight. Earlier, Sunrisers No.1 David Warner played a lone hand with the bat. He was extended a helping one by No.5 Naman Ojha though as the hosts resembled rabbits caught in headlights as they surprisingly froze on a warm summer night.
Warner smacked seven boundaries and two sixes in his 54-ball unbeaten 70 while Ojha contributed 34. Both were involved in a steadying partnership of 60 runs for the fourth wicket that lent some respectability to the team total. The Sunrisers were a pale shadow of themselves. The Kings put their rivals in to bat, and made them crawl. Even Warner turned turtle as he took 17 deliveries to score his first boundary.
Realising the urgency of runs, he reverse swept spinner Cariappa in the seventh over. A little later, in another switch hit, the left-hander lifted Cariappa into a ball boy’s hands off the third man boundary to bring up the side’s 50, in the ninth over. Left-arm spinner Axar Patel introduced in the10th over, struck with the first delivery – Moises Henriques stumped by wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha as he stepped out to step up the scoring rate. Next ball, the dashing Yuvraj Singh fell, snicking one to Saha again as the Sunrisers total at the halfway mark read a pathetic 54 for 3.
Scorecard
Sunrisers Hyderabad: DA Warner (not out) 70, S Dhawan c Saha b MM Sharma 15, MC Henriques st Saha b Patel 9, Yuvraj Singh c Saha b Patel 0, NV Ojha st Saha b Cariappa 34, DJ Hooda c Sandeep Sharma b MM Sharma 12, Mohammad Nabi c Miller b Sandeep Sharma 2, Rashid Khan (not out) 6. Extras (b 1, lb 4, w 6) 11. Total (for 6 wickets in 20 overs) 159.
FoW: 1-25, 2-50, 3-50, 4-110, 5-140, 6-146.
Bowling: Sandeep Sharma 4-0-35-1, I Sharma 4-0-23-0, MM Sharma 4-0-25-2, Cariappa 4-0-38-1, Patel 4-0-33-2.
Kings XI Punjab: H. Amla lbw b Kumar 0, M. Vohra lbw b Kumar 95, G. Maxwell b Kumar 10, E. Morgan b Nabi 13, D. Miller b rashid Khan 1, W. Saha b Rashid Khan 0, A. Patel c Dhawan b Henriques 7, M. Sharma c Dhawan b Kumar 10, K.C. Cariappa b Kumar 1, I. Sharma b Kaul 2, S. Sharma not out 5.
Extras (lb-4, w-5, nb 1) 10. Total all out ; 19. 4 overs) 154
FoW: 1-0, 2-16, 3-57, 4-62, 5-62, 6-82, 7-127, 8-144, 9-145, 10-154.
Bowling: B. Kumar 4-0-19-5, B. Saran 2-0-29-5, S. Kaul 3.4-0-26-1, M. Nabi 4-0-28-1, R. Khan 4-0-42-2, M. Henriques 2-0-6-1.
