IPL 2018: Match 16, KXIP vs SRH, Review- Punjab sign off from Mohali with a resounding victory

The eleventh edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is into its second week, however, the PCA Stadium in Mohali hosted its last game. Bearing this in mind, the Kings XI Punjab would have wished for an auspicious sign-off from their home ground. Meanwhile, they were up against Sunrisers Hyderabad against whom they have won nothing and lost four games in Mohali.

However, the tables were turned tonight and the home team romped to their third victory in four games of the ongoing season by 15 runs. Punjab racked up a massive score on the board after a jittery start following which Kane Williamson’s men tried their hearts out. Nonetheless, some immaculate display of bowling restricted them from getting even close to the target.

Gaylestorm strikes Mohali

The pitch seemed like a belter by the looks of it and Mohali being favourable to the chasing team, but Ravichandran Ashwin raised many eyebrows when he elected to bat first. The SRH bowlers have been exceptional and they exhibited the same viciousness till the fourth over after which Christopher Henry Gayle ripped the heart out of the Sunrisers bowlers.

Gayle along with KL Rahul commenced proceedings and the duo racked a partnership of 53 runs off 47 balls. Rahul couldn’t quite replicate his touch from the previous game and was trapped in front by Rashid Khan. On the other hand, Gayle’s knock went from strength to strength. In the 12th over, the Jamaican notched his 23rd fifty off 39 balls, a watchful knock as far as the Universal Boss is concerned.

Thereafter, he was ballistic and went hammer and tongs. For the first time in this season, the SRH bowlers seemed under pressure as Gayle unfolded mayhem in most importantly, he neutralized Rashid Khan’s wrist-spinner and smacked him for six sixes, which dented the confidence of the Afghan spinner and he could never recover.

Subsequently, the tweaker ended up his worst figures in the IPL. Gayle eventually brought up his sixth century in his IPL career and his 21st century in this format. On the other hand, Karun Nair turned out to be the appropriate foil for the Windies batsman. Aaron Finch also opened his account in the tournament and raced away to a quick-fire cameo, which propelled the score in the final over.

Punjab open their account against SRH in Mohali

The target was daunting, but it wasn’t beyond the reach of the Sunrisers by any means. However, they got off to the worst possible starts when Dhawan was stuck on the elbow by a good-length delivery from Barinder Sran and had to retire hurt. The visitors lost Wriddhiman Saha thereafter which brought Yusuf Pathan in charge who was promoted in order to accelerate the scoring rate.

Yusuf was starting to look ominous when he inside-edged the leather on the stumps off Mohit Sharma. Meanwhile, it was evident that the onus was on Williamson, the skipper, to build a platform and then guide them through to victory. Manish Pandey joined the Kiwi batsman and strained early on his innings. However, the partnership kept scoring the runs, but not par with the required rate.

The duo carved a stand of 76 runs off 56 balls, which kept the game alive for Hyderabad. The New Zealand cricketer racked up an impressive half-century, but, Andrew Tye got rid of him soon after, which made the task even more daunting for the Sunrisers. Meanwhile, Manish Pandey scored runs, but couldn’t find the boundaries frequently enough, much to the agony of the visitors.

The Karnataka batsman notched a half-century in 37 balls, but the game, by then was more or less done and dusted. Shakib Al Hasan spanked a couple over, but it was all about playing for the net run rate for the Sunrisers. Mohit and Tye picked up a couple of wickets each.

Brief Scores

Kings XI Punjab: 193/3 in 20 overs; Chris Gayle 104*, Karun Nair 31; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 1/25, Sidharth Kaul 1/33

Sunrisers Hyderabad: 178/4 in 20 overs; Manish Pandey 57*, Kane Williamson 54; Andrew Tye 2/23, Mohit Sharma 2/51

Kings XI Punjab beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 15 runs

Player of the Match: Chris Gayle

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