Bowlers strike after Bairstow’s blitz as clinical Hyderabad down hapless Punjab

Mohammad Abdullah, Staff Reporter

Rashid Khan bowled (3-12) yet another scintillating spell after a stupendous batting performance by Jonny Bairstow and David Warner as a clinical Sunrisers Hyderabad routed reckless Kings XI Punjab by a whopping 69 runs in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match on Thursday.

With the third victory from six matches, Hyderabad have procured six points and moved to the third spot in the standings.

Chasing an imposing total of 201, a lacklustre Punjab could manage to muster only 132 in 16.5 overs to succumb to their fifth defeat, fourth in a row.

They got off to a stuttering start and failed to get the partnerships going. They kept on losing the wickets at regular intervals and were restricted to 132 by a resilient Hyderabad bowling attack led by Rashid. The duo of Rashid and Kahleel Ahmed shared five wickets between them, conceding a combined total of 36 runs in their seven overs to rip through a fragile middle order.

Abhishek Sharma triggered the skid with the dismissal of KL Rahul before Khalil got rid of P Simran Singh. Mayank Agrawal was short of the ground as Punjab were reduced to 58-3.

Glenn Maxwell and Nicholas Pooran (77) shared a 42-run stand for the fourth wicket to put up some resistance. But Maxwell’s runout opened the floodgates for Rashid as he rattled the stumps of Mandeep Singh, trapped Mohammed Shami and had Pooran caught by Natrajan, who also picked up two wickets.

Earlier, Hyderabad got off to an incredible start as both the openers Bairstow and David Warner added 160 runs for the first wicket in 15 overs.

Bairstow and Warner were at their best and put a hapless Punjab attack to the sword. Bairstow lighted up the Dubai stadium with some glittering fireworks.

Both the batsmen toyed with the toothless attack of Punjab and hit the bowlers at will all over the ground. Bairstow was at his devastating best as he raced to his third fifty of the season with a couple off just 30 balls in the 12th over of the innings.

Bairtsow also took 20 runs off the 11th over boweld by Maxwell as he raised the temperature amid blistering Dubai heat and looked unstoppable.

Warner too was not to be left behind as he swung into action and flexed his muscles after ensuring a sound start for his team. He took a single off Mujib ur Rehman to bring up his second fifty of the season and ninth in a row against Punjab.

Ravi Bishnoi brought some respite to the Punjab camp with his double strikes in the same over. He gave Punjab their first breakthrough when he got rid of Warner as the Hyderabad captain miscued a sweep shot and the ball landed in the safe hands of Maxwell. Two balls later, the wily spinner trapped Bairstow in front of wickets as the England explosive batsman fell three runs short of his century. His 55-ball 97 was studded with seven fours and six over the fence.