Mohali: David Warner struck his fourth fifty of the season before Deepak Hooda played a cameo in the final over to lift Sunrisers Hyderabad to a challenging 150 for four against Kings XI Punjab in an IPL match here Monday.
Opening the batting, Warner carried on his bat for an uncharacteristic 70 not out off 62 balls to anchor Sunrisers‘ innings but it was Hooda’s unbeaten 14 off three deliveries that provided the late thrust to the visitors’ innings.
Warner struck six boundaries and one six during his knock, but it was Hooda who stole the limelight, smashing Mohammed Shami for two fours and one hit over the fence to pick up vital 15 runs off the last over.
Sunrisers suffered an early blow in the form of Jonny Bairstow (1) after being sent into bat. Bairstow failed to control a flick off Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s (1/34) bowling as Kings XI skipper Ravichandran Ashwin took a smart catch at short midwicket in the second over.
The early dismissal, together with some disciplined bowling from Kings XI, made life difficult for Sunrisers batsmen as Warner and new man in Vijay Shankar (26) found the going tough. The duo failed to strike big and stitched 49 runs for the second wicket off 57 balls to stabilise the Sunrisers innings. But just when it was time to cut loose after a slow start, Shankar edged a Ashwin (1/30) delivery to K L Rahul behind the stumps as Sunrisers slumped to 56 for two after 10.4 overs.
Promoted up the order, Mohammad Nabi (12) fell victim to an unfortunate run out after adding just 24 runs with Warner. Warner was not his elements Monday as he struggled to his fifty off 49 balls with the help of four boundaries and one six. Warner and Manish Pandey (19) then added 55 runs for the fourth wicket to take Sunrisers forward before Hooda finished off the innings in style to give Sunrisers‘ bowlers a total to defend.