Twitter Reactions: Rajpoot scalps five to restrict Sunrisers Hyderabad to 132

The Sunrisers Hyderabad stunned the Mumbai Indians in their previous encounter in the IPL this season. They successfully defended a total as low as 118 and bundled out the opposition for a paltry 87 in the game. With confidence right in their accounts, the Orange Army headed back to Hyderabad for their next assignment this season. They hosted the Kings XI Punjab in the match.

And now, at the half way stage, they find themselves in a similar situation as the previous game. They do not have a big total on the board, and hence, are under some pressure to defend it in the game. It is worth noting that unlike the Mumbai Indians, the Kings XI Punjab batting has been a consistent outfit and their top order has been in sublime form. All in all, at the half way stage in the game, the ingredients are pretty much ready for yet another exciting contest.

Coming to the game, the visiting skipper Ravichandran Ashwin won the toss and opted to bowl first. Sunrisers Hyderabad had a tough start as they lost their two batting mainstays – Kane Williamson and Shikhar Dhawan – in the powerplay. Wriddhiman Saha could not do much either. Ankit Rajpoot, the man who had won the Player of the Match for Kings in the previous game, accounted for all the three early wickets.

Shakib Al Hasan and Manish Pandey then accounted for the fourth wicket partnership that produced 52 key runs, albeit at a sluggish rate. Both batsmen got lucky too – Shakib was caught on a no-ball and Pandey was dropped by Andrew Tye early on in the game. The partnership was broken when Shakib was dismissed on 28 (29) by Mujeeb ur Rahman. After his dismissal, Yusuf Pathan and Pandey took the innings forward.

Sadly for the Sunrisers, the innings could never take off. Pandey moved past his fifty and was dismissed on 54 (51) in the final over. Yusuf remained unbeaten on 21 (19) as Sunrisers Hyderabad finished with 132/6 to their name. The star of the innings was Ankit Rajpoot, who finished with 5/14 in the four overs that he bowled.

Here is how the fans reacted to the Sunrisers Hyderabad innings:

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