IPL 2019: Match 22, KXIP vs SRH - Who Said What

Well, the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) are making it a habit unnecessarily to take the game deep. They failed against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and almost botched up once again against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). KL Rahul was at the helm on both the occasions but this time he managed to keep his cool and took the team home with one ball to spare.

The chase started with Chris Gayle looking in his elements. He smashed a six and a four to threaten to gun down the total quickly. But Rashid Khan’s introduction in the fourth over worked wonders for the SRH. Gayle was snaffled by the leggie off the very first delivery. But this was the only moment of joy for the visitors for the next 14 overs. The duo of Rahul and Mayank Agarwal added 114 runs for the second wicket.

Both of them completed their half-centuries in the process as well. The game was all about the KXIP but still there was a twist in the tail. Agarwal got out in the 18th over which Sandeep Sharma bowled and David Miller was also sent back by the same bowler in that over to make things interesting. Siddarth Kaul who had gone for plenty in his three over, brought his skills to the fore and conceded just five runs in the penultimate over.

Moreover, Mandeep Singh was dismissed off the final delivery with 11 needing off the final over now. Mohammad Nabi was handed over the ball by the skipper Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Drama unfolds

Sam Curran was sent ahead of Sarfaraz Khan as the former took the strike and eked out five runs in the first three balls. The KXIP needed a boundary with six needed off three deliveries and Rahul kept his calm to sawt the next ball straight back over the bowler’s head. Then David Warner did a mis-field sensationally and the home team won the thriller with one ball to spare.

Earlier, the SRH were propelled by David Warner’s 70-run knock of 62 balls. He was well supported by Vijay Shankar and just when one thought that they will finish with a below-par total, Deepak Hooda slammed 14 off 3 balls to end the innings on a competitive 150/4. Eventually, the KXIP were the deserved winners.

Man of the Match, KL Rahul said:

Didn’t start off the way I wanted to in the first couple of games. Just enjoying my batting and happy to end up on the winning side. Been playing with Chris for a long time and really enjoy batting with Mayank. The batting group has done well so far.

The way Mayank came out and the way he was striking even against Mumbai gives me a little bit of time. He had to look for the boundaries, I did tell him (Curran) that maybe hitting six is difficult. I told him to target the pockets.

Kings XI Punjab skipper, Ravi Ashwin said:

Too close to comfort. We have had really close games, the biggest positive for me is there is scope for improvement. It will be really harsh to say that we conceded 100 runs in the last 10 overs. The plans were held very well upon. There is enough ability to work on it.

The crowd have been splendid this year and it’s a massive support for us. It was always in our plans, Mujeeb knows Mohali very well and as a spinner you need to know the lengths and speeds to bowl at. Sometimes the figures don’t do justice, but I think Mujeeb bowled well today.

You do use spinners with the new ball and Mujeeb has done it all his life for Afghanistan. And it was a good match-up between Bairstow and Mujeeb.

Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper, Bhuvneshwar Kumar said:

Of course it is hard but I am pretty happy with the way we bowled with the dew around. It is a bit difficult with yorkers and slower balls, but given the dew, we executed our plans pretty well. The yorker is something you can’t bowl and the bowling plans depend on the length of the boundaries.

When we came to bowl we kept the dew factor out of our minds and all we wanted to do was stretch it to the last over. It is a good thing to get a break now, we can assess what we have done so far.

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