You lose some games, you gift others and then there are games in which victory is just robbed off you in a perfect style - probably like a heist. And that’s exactly what happened in Dubai as the Sunrisers Hyderabad were robbed of a victory by the two Punjabi pace bowlers, Chris Jordan and Arshdeep Singh.
Kings XI defended the lowest total of the season - 126 runs as they got their opponents all out for 114, who at one time were 100/3 in the 17th over. The roles played by the Punjabi players vary, however the ones played by the Hyderabad batsmen, who came after the fall of openers David Warner and Jonny Bairstow have no variation at all, as all of them were dismissed of length balls, trying to play glory shots.
On that note, here is a look at the Hits and Flops of the game
Getting an inspiration from the game against Mumbai Indians in which he had delivered the second super over to win his team the match, Chris Jordan took it upon himself to do it again for the team. He bowled an immaculate 17th over picking the much-needed wicket of Manish Pandey and giving way just seven runs of it. But what was even more brilliant was the penultimate over that he bowled.
Defending just 17 off 12 balls, Jordan bowled a perfect over, picking up the wickets of dangerous Jason Holder and Rashid Khan in consecutive deliveries and gave away just three runs off it, giving young Arshdeep an opportunity to win his team a game by defending 14 off the last over.
If Jordan was brilliant, the swagger in Arshdeep was not behind either. He took it upon himself to win the game for the team, delivering three back to back brilliant overs, giving away just 13 runs, and picking up three crucial wickets as well, including the one of settled Vijay Shankar.
His best however was seen in the last over as he refused to get bogged down by pressure and kept on bowling length deliveries that were sticking into the wicket. This performance made the belief of the team even stronger in him as he finally repaid the backing of the management.
When all the batsmen of Punjab were getting out either by getting beaten by Rashid’s leggies or by the helplessness of not being able to connect the deliveries properly, there was one man, who stood till the last ball, to give Kings XI something to fight at on that bowler’s friendly wicket.
Pooran made a struggling yet fruitful 32 off 28 balls to get Punjab to 126. In the hindsight, the 15 runs scored off the last two overs seem to be the most crucial in the entire Punjab innings.
The hero from the last game, Manish Pandey became the ultimate villain, gobbling up deliveries and not being able to tickle the scorecard at the same time. Pandey made a painful 15 off 29 balls, which at best could be described as a horrendous attempt at chasing a small total.
He along with Vijay Shankar, the other hero from the last game, used up 44 balls in the middle overs to make just 33 runs and then eventually get out when there was the needed to finally put the balls to the boundaries and win the game for the team.
Vijay Shankar was praised in the last game a lot for his match-winning knock. However, the superstar from the last game had yet another chance to seal the deal for his team but miserably failed in his attempt to chase down a run-a-ball total.
Shankar got out in the 18th over off Arshdeep trying to accelerate, which really wasn’t the need, all that was needed was of him to play till the last ball of the game and win it for the team. In total, he made 26 of 27 balls, slightly better from his partner Manish, yet not enough to lend his team a win.
The next games are going to be crucial for both the teams, especially the Kings as they have a higher chance of qualifying for the Playoffs.
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