NEW DELHI: Punjab Kings (PBKS) held their nerve as they defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by five runs in a low-scoring thriller in their Indian Premier League (IPL) clash at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Saturday. With this win, Punjab moved to 8 points and are currently fifth on the points table, behind KKR on NRR.
Here are the key highlights from the match:
PUNJAB KINGS INNINGS:
Holder takes down Rahul and Mayank in the same over: Jason Holder was the destroyer in chief, as he wrecked the Punjab Kings innings. The West Indian removed both openers – KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal – in his first over. Punjab captain Rahul fell to Holder’s first ball for a run-a-ball 21. Four balls later, Holder sent Mayank (5) back to the pavilion to give SRH another breakthrough. Agarwal tried to play a lofted drive but ended up giving an easy catch to Kane Williamson at mid-off.

Image credit: BCCI/IPL
Sandeep and Suchith stunners derailed Punjab innings in the middle overs: Sandeep Sharma claimed just one wicket in the form of the dangerous Nicholas Pooran (8) in his four-over spell, but he continued to put the brakes on the SRH innings. Sandeep didn’t allow the SRH batsmen to go over the top and he ended his four-over spell with an economy rate of 5.00. On the other hand, substitute Jagadeesha Suchith grasped two stunning catches – of KL Rahul and Deepak Hooda.
Markram, lower order helped Punjab post a fighting total: Aiden Markram top-scored with a 32-ball 27. He along with a few others pushed Punjab Kings’ total to 125 for 7 in 20 overs. Markram, who hit just two fours in his knock, was dismissed in the 15th over by Abdul Samad. Apart from Markram, Deepak Hooda (13 runs off 10 balls), Harpreet Brar (18 not out off 18 balls) and Nathan Ellis (12 runs off 12 balls) contributed with the bat for PBKS.

Aiden Markram (RUNS: 27 | BALLS: 32 | 4s: 2)
SUNRISERS HYDERABAD INNINGS:
Double whammy for the Sunrisers right in the beginning: Chasing a modest 126 runs in Sharjah, Sunrisers Hyderabad were off to a terrible start. They lost their star batsmen – David Warner (2) and captain Kane Williamson (1) in quick succession. Both Warner and Williamson were dismissed by the experienced pacer Mohammed Shami. At the fall of these two wickets, the SRH score read 10/2.

Image credit: BCCI/IPL
Manish, Kedar disappoint again: After losing Warner and Williamson, the onus was on middle-order stalwarts Manish Pandey (13) and Kedar Jadhav (12) to steady the ship and up the ante. But the duo failed to take SRH out of a precarious position. Both Jadhav and Pandey were skittled by the young Ravi Bishnoi, who finished with very good figures of 3/24.

Jason Holder (RUNS: 47* | BALLS: 29 | 6s: 5)
Holder’s fight went in vain; superb penultimate over bowled by young Arshdeep Singh: SRH needed 21 runs off 12 balls to win when KL Rahul handed the 19th over to Arshdeep Singh. And the Punjab bowler didn’t disappoint his skipper. He dismissed Rashid Khan (3) with his first ball of the over and conceded just 4 runs off the next five deliveries, making the job a bit easier for Nathan Ellis who bowled the last over. Holder, who claimed three wickets, fought till the end and remained unbeaten on 47 off 29 balls, but his valiant efforts went in vain as SRH lost the match by 5 runs. Needing 17 off 6 balls, Holder managed to hit just one maximum in Ellis’ last over. With this loss, SRH are still languishing at the bottom of the points table, with just 1 win in 9 matches.