Twitter Reactions: Hapless KXIP go down against SRH to lose the game by 69 runs

Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) continue to go down in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). They lost their fifth game in six outings to stay at the bottom of the points table. On the other hand, the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have made a stunning comeback after starting poorly to win their third game of the season. Their bowling attack continues to impress while the batting still needs a bit of introspection, especially the middle-order.

Earlier, SRH had themselves to blame for not posting a huge total on the board after being 160/0 after 15 overs. Their openers Jonny Bairstow and David Warner batted superbly upfront to smash KXIP bowlers to all parts of the ground. The former took the lead in run-scoring while the SRH skipper played second fiddle to him. The duo kept on adding the misery on the opposition bowlers who came into this game without picking any wicket against CSK a couple of days ago.

Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb ur Rahman also looked under-cooked in this game dishing out a few full tosses. Bairstow took full toll of such deliveries and looked good to get to his century comfortably. Warner, at the other end, also reached to his ninth consecutive half-century against KXIP. Bairstow, meanwhile, plundered runs at will and at 160/0, things looked ominous.

KL Rahul, with not much to do, turned to Ravi Bishnoi in the 16th over and that changed the whole momentum of the innings. The young leg-spinner got the better of Warner first and then smartly made KL Rahul take the review against Bairstow in the same over to get rid of the England batsman. Bairstow, unfortunately, missed out on a well deserved century to get out on 97 off 55 balls.

This is where things turned on its head. SRH’s inexperienced middle-order couldn’t handle the proceedings and lost wickets in a heap. Arshdeep Singh, playing his first game of the season, bowled well too at the death to restrict the opposition only for 201 runs in their 20 overs.

Pooran fights alone in the chase

KXIP began the chase in the worst possible manner with their opening stand breaking through a run-out. Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul were involved in a mix-up thanks to some scintillating fielding effort from David Warner. Rahul looked comfortable in the middle and the pressure got to him after scoring only 11 runs off 16 deliveries.

Nicholas Pooran then came out and played a blitzkrieg to leave SRH bowlers stunned. He cleverly attacked the fifth bowling options of the opposition taking on Abhishek Sharma and Abdul Samad. The latter suffered the worst conceding 28 runs in a single over.

Despite losing quick wickets before Pooran’s blitz, KXIP were suddenly back in the game. Glenn Maxwell was looking to settle down at the other end but misjudged a single. Priyam Garg affected a direct hit to catch him well short of the crease for just 7 runs. Rashid Khan then took care of the things picking three wickets including that of Pooran to seal the deal for his team.

However, prior to that, Pooran played a special knock smashing the fastest fifty of the IPL 2020 off 17 deliveries. He fought lonely in the innings and KXIP’s thin batting didn’t help their cause either. The Caribbean left-hander scored 77 off 37 balls before getting out to Rashid. Eventually, Kings XI got bowled out for 132 in the 17th over of the innings to lose the game by 69 runs.

Here’s how Twitter reacted: