KXIP lose to SRH by 69 runs, suffer 4th straight defeat

Dubai, October 8, 2020

Nicholas Pooran's 77 was the only bright spot for Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) on Thursday as they wilted to a 69-run defeat against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the 22nd match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Dubai International Stadium.

Chasing a target of 202, Pooran was the only one who kept them in the chase while his teammates fell around him.

KXIP lost their first wicket through a run-out in the second over of the match following a mix-up between Mayank Agarwal and skipper K L Rahul. Mayank had taken off for a second run after Rahul gave him the signal before reversing his call. Mayank had no chance of making it back and was dismissed for just 9.

Rashid Khan was the standout bowler for SRH, picking up three wickets, including that of the dangerous Pooran. The only noteworthy partnership for KXIP was between Pooran and Glenn Maxwell with the pair putting up 47 runs for the fourth wicket.

The partnership was broken by another run out with Maxwell being caught out by a brilliant direct hit from Priyam Garg.

Earlier, Jonny Bairstow (97) and David Warner (52) put up an opening stand of 160 runs as SRH scored 201/6 wickets in their 20 overs.

The mammoth opening stand was broken only in the 16th over by Ravi Bishnoi after which KXIP did well to restrain SRH down to a score just over 200.

Bairstow was denied his second IPL hundred by Bishnoi in the same over.

KXIP took six wickets and conceded 41 runs in the last four overs.

While wickets fell around him, Kane Williamson stood strong and was unbeaten on 20 off 10 balls. The only noteworthy stand outside of the opening partnership was between Williamson and Abhishek Sharma who put up 24 for the sixth wicket.

Brief scores: SRH 201/6 in 20 overs (Jonny Bairstow 97, David Warner 52; Ravi Bishnoi 3/29) vs KXIP 132 all out in 16.5 overs (Nicholas Pooran 77, Prabhsimran Singh 11; Rashidh Khan 3/12)

IANS