KXIP vs SRH: Arshdeep, Jordan at the heart of KXIP's stunning heist
Kings XI Punjab prevailed in a tug-of-war contest as Sunrisers Hyderabad jammed the self-destruct button while chasing a sheepish 127, ultimately falling short by a dozen. Cruising at 56 for none in the 7th over, okay let's fast forward to 100/3 in 16 overs, needing just 27 from 24 with 7 wickets in hand. Yes, SRH screwed up from that stage. Let that sink in.
That's not to take a smidgen away from KL Rahul & Co, who assessed the conditions to the hilt and sucked every joule of energy from SRH's vigil. To win four games on the bounce with every game literally being a must-win scenario is one heck of an accomplishment. It wouldn't have been possible without Chris Jordan and Arshdeep Singh, who soaked up the pressure like a sponge and bagged three apiece. Don't jump the gun folks, KXIP are pretty much alive and kicking!
Just another day at office for Warner-Bairstow
In pursuit of a rather modest total, normal services resumed for David Warner and Jonny Bairstow. In case you're living under a rock, the left-right combination made a mockery of the fielding restrictions with their cold-blooded strokeplay
besides sprinting ala Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake in pads. Fielders patrolling the square fences were intimidated in the quest of a brace, with the duo even putting their body on the line to ride home. Now you know why Warner dons a pair of fielding sleeves even while batting.
Leggies at the helm of KXIP's riposte
That KXIP still remain in contention for a berth in the play-offs is solely because of their never-say-die attitude. And the manner in which they turned the tables rubberstamped the fact. For all the credit due to the unflinching warriors, SRH aided a great deal in allowing them a foot in the door. Leggie Ravi Bishnoi halted the 56-run opening stand as Warner feathered behind for 35 in a bid to reverse sweep, an unorthodox shot which he could've done without at that juncture of the game, since they were head and shoulders above the asking rate. Here's a cool stat: This was the first instance of Warner failing to go past 50 in five successive innings in IPL since he started playing for SRH in 2014.
Bairstow shuffled across and lined himself up to sweep against Murugan Ashwin only to be beaten all ends up and have his leg-stump clanged for 19. KL Rahul's ploy to bowl out Mohammed Shami under the 9th over itself worked wonders as Abdul Samad nailed a half-volley down mid-off's throat. A wicket or two from there on could've really spiced things up but the heroes from the other day, Manish Pandey and Vijay Shankar assuaged the nerves in the dressing room. The 33-run partnership kept the match delicately poised, in the not-here-not-there zone in which both the protagonists lick their lips, and Bishnoi producing figures of 4-0-13-1 was quite instrumental in subjecting SRH to that claustrophobic environment.
SRH get a taste of their own medicine
No prizes for guessing, there were twists in the tale. And rather nerve-wracking ones for that matter. Substitute fielder Jagdeesha Suchitha, manning the long-off hotspot, zinged off the blocks to pouch Pandey's timid gun-barrel straight loft eerily close to the boundary rope. With 20 required from the last three, Shankar copped a nasty blow on the helmet owing to a full-fledged shy at the sticks from Nicholas Pooran. Visibly hazed, Shankar bit the dust off Arshdeep Singh the very next ball, leaving the lower-middle order with an uphill task of gunning 17 from a dozen.
Chris Jordan, the man who lives and breathes for such do-or-die moments, rose to the expectactions with a fantastic penultimate over, snuffing out Jason Holder and Rashid Khan off consecutive balls to inject life into a match which had no business staying alive whatsoever.
Arshdeep hammers the final nail in SRH's coffin
Franchises generally don't break a sweat at 14 off 6, but the surface lurking the demons of inertia and variable bounce made the job at hand a tedious proposition. Arshdeep Singh cracked the code, banging sluggish off-cutters into the deck to eradicate Sandeep Sharma and Priyam Garg yanking cross-batted splices to their own peril.
The equation seeking 13 off 3, Khaleel Ahmed strolled into the cauldron with the lazy demeanour of a beach bum, raising the white flags with a couple of textboot defences. He wondered long and hard if taking out the effort to sneak a run on the latter was worth it, and when his brain responded in the affirmative, did the honors. But Ravi Bishnoi had no soft corner for such an episode of absolute lack, scratch that, void of commitment, smacking bullseye to cap off the mother of all heists.
Mandeep overcomes personal tragedy to grit it out
KL Rahul didn't spill the beans at the toss but an educated guess would reveal that Mayank Agarwal's absence was down to an injury, a twisted ankle picked up when he tumbled awkwardly during his run out against Delhi Capitals. In came Mandeep Singh, who showed a heart of steel to take field despite his father passing away earlier in the morning. All-rounder James Neesham too got swapped with his counterpart Chris Jordan while SRH replaced Shahbaz Nadeem with Khaleel Ahmed.
Clinical SRH draw early blood
Given the dew factor in the second innings, chasing was David Warner's best bet after spinning the coin in his favour. He marshalled his troops with great tactical nous as KXIP lost wickets at regular intervals. The dearth of boundaries inside the PowerPlay coerced Mandeep into an almighty hoick which took some catching, and Rashid Khan at deep square leg proved safe as houses. The beneficiary, Sandeep Sharma blew a kiss towards the heavens on the occasion of his 100th scalp in IPL history. No mean feat in a world where pinch-hitters eat military-medium seamers for breakfast.
Con artist Rashid weaves his charm
Chris Gayle set the ball rolling with a couple of nonchalant gems through the off-side before heading back to basics and slaughtering Rashid over cow corner. Jason Holder peppered the range-hitting typhoon with a barrage of yorkers as he finally ran out of patience, miscuing a wide tempter to long-on. Common logic might've suggested holding back the remaining two overs of Rashid for the likes of Nicholas Pooran or Glenn Maxwell, but Warner unleashed his trump card for a third at the halfway mark. And boy it was a coup de maître, with the leggie bamboozling Rahul with a wrong un' that would put the master of the trades to shame. Skiddier trajectory, pitched in the corridor of uncertainty as if via laser-guided mechanisms, and then poking fun at the opener's messed up decision-making to rattle the leg pole.
SRH juggernaut drives on furiously
Such was the orange army's proficiency that KXIP had no chance in hell of resurrection. Glenn Maxwell has looked a pale shadow of his beastly self in recent times, and tonight was just another chapter to his sustained mediocrity. Sandeep's burst in the middle phase saw him toe-edging a swat to long-on, where Warner demonstrated his athletic prowess to grab hold of a smart catch.
Deepak Hooda was guilty of overbalancing after prodding forward for a nurdle as Jonny Bairstow chucked the bails within the blink of an eye. Holder layered more value to his bowling stocks with Chris Jordan's dismissal while Vijay Shankar conjured a direct hit from backward point to send Murugan Ashwin packing at the non-striker's end.
Pooran elixir to KXIP's corpse
Though Nicholas Pooran's 28-ball 32 bandaged the wounds to an extent, that a swashbuckler of his ability had to make ado with almost a run-a-ball knock was a testimony to SRH's vintage operation. Neither of the last ten overs afforded a run in excess of 9. In hindsight, Pooran's cameo was worth a king's ransom.
What's next in store?
KXIP's dream run now beckons a tasty clash on October 26 in Sharjah against Kolkata Knight Riders. KKR rest fourth with 12 points and KXIP are hot on their heels with 10 points, brimming with confidence on fifth. The winner of this crunch tie will be viewed as the favourite to seize that final playoff berth.
SRH, on the flipside, can only gain a maximum of 14 points. And doing so is going to be no cakewalk as they locks horns with the top three teams next commencing with an encounter against Delhi Capitals on October 27.