Sunrisers Hyderabad 145 for 2 (Tripathi 74*, Markram 37*, Arshdeep 1-20) beat Punjab Kings 143 for 9 (Dhawan 99*, Markande 4-15, Jansen 2-16) by eight wickets
Bhuvneshwar, Jansen go bang, bang, bang
Much like Bhuvneshwar, Jansen, picked ahead of legspinner Adil Rashid, exploited the early swing on offer. The left-arm seamer struck with his second legal ball to pin IPL debutant Matt Short lbw for 1. He won another lbw appeal from umpire Bruce Oxenford next ball, but Jitesh Sharma overturned the on-field decision on review. Jitesh managed four before Jansen had him chipping a drive to mid-off in his next over. T Natarajan also found swing in the powerplay as Sunrisers’ seam attack thrived at home.
Dhawan or nothing for PBKS
Dhawan’s 69.2 was the second-highest percentage of runs scored in a completed IPL innings that went 20 overs or ended with a team all out. It was second only to Brendon McCullum in the first match of the IPL, where he shellacked 158 out of KKR’s total of 222 (71.2%).
Tripathi, Markram see SRH home
Sunrisers decided to shake up their batting line-up by pairing up Agarwal with Brook at the top. Brook seemed comfortable with pace on the ball, but when Arshdeep Singh cut it down to 117kph and bowled a knuckle ball, he was bowled through the gate for 13 off 14. Then, when Agarwal dared to sweep Rahul Chahar off the stumps, he spliced a catch to long-on, leaving Sunrisers at 45 for 2 in the ninth over.
Tripathi and Markram then got together to settle the innings. When Chahar darted it quicker and flatter outside off, Tripathi used the pace to glide the ball behind point. When Chahar slowed his pace down and tossed up his legbreaks, Tripathi stretched out to either drive him inside out over extra cover or sweep him over midwicket. He treated Rathee with even more disdain, smashing him for two sixes and two fours in eight balls.
Tripathi’s high intent and execution allowed Markram to sit back and tap the ball into the gaps. Fittingly, it was Tripathi who finished the game for Sunrisers with eight wickets and almost three overs to spare.