IPL 10: Match 19, Who Said What: Sunrisers Hyderabad v Kings XI Punjab

After losing their numero uno status at the points table due to their defeat against a determined Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens, the Sunrisers Hyderabad looked to dominate proceedings against a demoralized Kings XI Punjab who faced defeat against Delhi Daredevils. The news of both Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan in the lineup must have lit up Kabul and other places in Afghanistan. Glenn Maxwell won the toss and backed themselves to chase down the target set by the home team. As it turned out, Kings XI made run making uneasy for the batsmen as they chipped in with wickets at regular intervals. David Warner was the standout batsman for the defending champions.

David Warner carried his bat through and retained the Orange Cap with his 70 off 54 deliveries laced with seven fours and two maximums. Warner was efficiently supported by Naman Ojha’s 34 off 20 balls. Afghanistan superstar Rashid Khan ensured the party continued in his motherland as he concluded the innings with a maximum while facing his very first ball. Both Axar Patal and Mohit Sharma impressed the most by claiming a couple of wickets each.

It was a one-man show for Kings XI Punjab as their foreign contingent failed collectively as victims to the Afghanistan attack featuring Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan who claimed three wickets in tandem, breaking the back of the middle-order. Manan Vohra threatened to cause one of the greatest turnarounds in IPL history with his match-defining innings of 95 off 50 deliveries at an incredible strike rate of 190, as he single-handedly looked an improbable victory for his side, coming from behind. The Punjab side was completely written off at 82-6 by losing Axar Patel but Manan Vohra provided with a ray of hope in their camp.

It was essentially Bhuvneshwar Kumar who made the victory possible for the home side as took the priced wicket of Vohra. The Purple Cap holder Bhuveneshwar showed his class with figures of 5-19 at a ridiculous economy of 4.75, with as many as 15 dot balls. In the end, Kings XI fell short of the required target by just 5 runs. Purple Cap holder Bhuvneshwar Kumar was adjudged as the man of the match for his incredible bowling. Marvellous Monday treated us with two cracking games which went to the last over.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Bhuvi eulogised the efforts of Manan Vohra and also backed himself to bowl the penultimate over which hit the final nail in the Kings XI’s coffin. He also highlighted the fact that the surface wasn’t easy to bowl at as it was necessary to keep changing pace with variations.

Yes it is, it’s still pounding. T20 is a format where you expect the unexpected and Manan almost took the game away from us. Athletes always talk about believing in themselves and that’s what I did in the 19th over. I’ve overcome that pressure because I’ve done this job for a long time. I knew I had to bowl the 19th over, the match-defining over. I believed in myself. I bowled the 16th over and he was in good nick. It wasn’t an easy wicket, it was a great effort from our batsmen who took us to 160. Changing pace really worked for us. If you want to win the match defending 160 you have to take initial wickets, the likes of Miller and Morgan.

David Warner

Manan Vohra was also commended by Sunrisers’ skipper and also praised the efforts of Bhuvaneshwar Kumar. The explosive opener also had a word or two about the Afghanistan spin twins. Warner concluded by thanking the crowd for their support and commented that winning close games helps in gaining confidence.

An unbelievable game of cricket. Credit to Manan, the way he played. I was down when I played on that wicket. Credit to Bhuvi too, he was unbelievable. He made it look easy when he was clearing the ropes. But unfortunately there has to be one winner and it was us. I back all my bowlers, but when you’ve got Bhuvi in the sheds, I back him. Fantastic contribution from both of the Afghanistan players. As I keep reiterating to the boys, it’s really important to win these close games. Thanks again for the crowd who supported us here.

Glenn Maxwell

The Victorian hailed praises for young Vohra who played a lone hand in the innings. As a skipper, Maxwell felt guilty of making Vohra a victim of being on the losing side especially after the splendid innings he played. However, he was glad that the opener converted his starts into something substantial. He also remarked that wicket acquired a dual nature over the course of the game. The skipper was disappointed about his failure with the bat and hoped the team does well in the upcoming games.

It was an outstanding game. Manan Vohra batted superbly but unfortunately he did not have much of help from the rest of us. The tail took it a lot closer. I though 160 was chasable but we gave away 10-15 runs too many at the end. We did a lot of things well in the middle but lost it a bit towards the end. To play an innings like Manan did for the losing side is criminal I suppose. It was innings that was coming, he kept getting 20s and 30s earlier for us and was slightly frustrated but we knew he could score big. We expected Bhuvi to swing the ball around but we didn’t expect the wicket to be as up and down as it was. We knew it was two bowlers Rashid and Bhuvi we had to be wary of. I thought we played Rashid well though a majority of it was done by Vohra. We wanted to be ahead of the scoring rate and if we could have got 60 in the powerplay, it would make it easier for the rest of them. I let myself down as well with the batting but the way the guys scrapped was brilliant. Hopefully we could keep doing it ahead as well.

Sunrisers are currently at the 3rd position having played 5 matches, with 3 wins and 2 losses. KXIP remain at 5th position with 4 points in 5 games and their third straight defeat.