Navi Mumbai: Young pace sensation Umran Malik (4/28) and the experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3/22) combined effectively to help Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) script a facile seven-wicket win over Punjab Kings (PBKS) in their IPL encounter here Sunday. It was the Hyderabad’s side fourth win on the trot.
Malik bowled a sensational 20th over to bag three wickets without conceding a single run. It turned out to be a match-winning effort in the end. A fourth wicket also fell in the final over, but the batter was run out as the Kings finished on a below par 151 all out.
In reply, SRH did not have a perfect start and lost skipper Kane Williamson (3) early in the fourth over with Kagiso Rabada drawing the first blood. Opener Abhishek Sharma (31, 25b, 3×4, 1×6) and in-form Rahul Tripathi (34, 22b, 4×4, 1×6) failed to convert their starts but the modest total meant that SRH did not have to worry much in the end.
South African Aiden Makram (41 n o, 27b, 4×4, 1×6) and West Indian Nicholas Pooran (35 n o, 30b, 1×4, 1×6) then completed the formalities with an unbroken 75-run partnership from 50 balls.
Markram finished off the chase in the penultimate over hitting Vaibhav Arora for consecutive boundaries and six to seal the issue with seven balls to spare.
The win took SRH to eight points, moving up from the middle-table rush to climb to fourth spot, while PBKS remained on seventh with six points from as many matches.
Earlier Liam Livingstone (60, 33b, 5×4, 4×6) who was the most expensive overseas player in this season’s IPL auction with a price tag of Rs 11.50-crore, resurrected the PBKS innings with a counter-attacking knock and in the process got his third half century in four matches.
Reduced to 61/4 inside eight overs after being put in, Livingstone found a perfect ally in No. 6 batter Shahrukh Khan (26, 28 b, 1×4, 2×6) as the duo stitched together 71 from 49 balls to revive them in the middle overs.
On a slow pitch scoring was difficult early on. However, Livingstone did not have any trouble as he played shots all across the park.
But the momentum shifted heavily in favour of SRH after Bhuvneshwar provided the key breakthrough of Livingstone as PBKS lost five wickets in seven balls with Malik producing a perfect final over.
Malik first had Odean Smith with a slower one before castling Rahul Chahar and Vaibhav Arora in successive deliveries.
Brief scores: PBKS 151 all out (Liam Livingstone 60, Umran Malik 4/28, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3/22) lost to SRH 152 for 3 (Aiden Makram 41 n o, Nicholas Pooran 35 n o) by seven wickets.