IPL 2020: SRH’s Vijay Shankar cops a blow on the head against KXIP

Vijay Shankar went into the game against the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) on the back of a stupendous half-century against the Rajasthan Royals (RR). On Saturday, October 24, he was again expected to take the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) over the finishing line, this time against the Punjab-based franchise. However, he ended up having a torrid time in the middle with the bat in hand.

He came to bat after Abdul Samad perished to Mohammed Shami in the ninth over of the Orange Army’s run-chase. At that point in time, the Sunrisers needed 60 runs off 67 balls with seven wickets in hand. But then, SRH started imploding as run making became a difficult task. Shankar scored 26 runs off 27 balls with four fours and was looking set to take his team to another victory.

Tough times for Vijay Shankar

However, that wasn’t the case as David Warner and Co lost the game by 12 runs. Shankar got out to left-arm fast bowler Arshdeep Singh in the penultimate ball of the 18th over. But prior to that, he faced a nasty blow on the head. Jason Holder tapped one to the point region and fielder Nicholas Pooran had a shy at the stumps to get Shankar run out at the striker’s end.

But the ball bounced and smacked Shankar on the side of the helmet. Though he was wearing the protective gear, he was shaken to some extent. The physio ran on to the ground for a concussion test. Had the ball hit the stumps, Shankar would have been out. Despite the blow, Shankar showed a great amount of courage and decided to carry on, though he lasted one more ball.

Here’s the video:

pic.twitter.com/J03VKf2mO3

— Simran (@CowCorner9) October 25, 2020

After Shankar got out, SRH could inject no momentum to their innings whatsoever. From 100 for three in the 16th over, they were bowled out for 114 one ball short of the 20th over. In the first half of the chase, the Sunrisers were dominating. David Warner and Jonny Bairstow put on 56 runs for the first wicket off 38 balls. Warner was the more attacking, scoring 35 runs off 20 balls with three fours and two sixes.