Twitter Reactions: KL Rahul keeps his calm to take KXIP home in the last over thriller

The Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) have managed to get past the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Mohali to continue their winning run at the venue. KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal were the architects of a perfect chase. But the bowlers set up the game for them sensationally early on by restricting the opposition to a below-par total. Meanwhile, the SRH are suddenly looking shaky with two back-to-back losses.

Chris Gayle was snaffled by Rashid Khan in the fourth over itself and one felt that the game will go deep at that stage. But Rahul and Agarwal’s partnership kept the KXIP ahead with a 114-run partnership. Both of them played calculative strokes and got to their respective half-centuries. But the latter’s wicket in the 18th over turned things dramatically.

The death bowling was back at its best for the SRH. From 20 runs needed of the same number of deliveries, the equation came down to 11 off the final over which Mohammad Nabi had to bowl. KL Rahul had failed to take the team through against the CSK only in the previous game and he was once again at the helm with all pressure on him. However, the champion batsman got a timely boundary for his team with six runs needing off three balls.

Then David Warner mis-fielded under pressure as the KXIP got to the target with only 1 ball to spare. Actually, the match shouldn’t have gone to the last over but the Punjab side has made it a habit it seems.

Warner takes SRH to a competitive score

Scoring was tough in the first innings and Jonny Bairstow‘s early wicket didn’t help SRH’s cause. Mujeeb Ur Rahman scalped him and since then the visitors only struggled for runs. There was a decent partnership between David Warner and Vijay Shankar and they should be credited for not throwing their wickets away after taking time to get in.

The duo added 49 runs for the second wicket and Ravi Ashwin snaffled Vijay Shankar just when he was looking dangerous. The wicket pegged them back again as Warner was looking rusty in the middle. Manish Pandey also crawled his way 19 while Mohammad Nabi’s promotion didn’t work either. However, the Australian opener upped the ante at the right time for the team and remained unbeaten on 70 off 62 deliveries.

The innings resembled Steve Smith‘s knock the other day for the Rajasthan Royals against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). However, the SRH were massively boosted by the last three deliveries of the innings as Deepak Hooda got stuck into Mohammad Shami to eke out 14 runs which led the team to 150 runs for the loss of four wickets after 20 overs. But it wasn’t enough eventually as the batting got much easier with dew taking more effect.

Here’s how Twitter reacted:

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