A blistering knock of 49* runs by Liam Livingstone and a quick 19 by Jitesh Sharma helped Punjab Kings to register a five wickets victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the last league match of IPL 2022 here at Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.
Liam Livingstone smashed 49 and top-scored for Punjab Kings, while Shikhar Dhawan and Jitesh Sharma score 39 and 19 respectively. For SRH, Fazalhaq Farooqi bagged two wickets, and Jagadeesha Suchith and Washington Sundar settled for one wicket each.
Chasing 158, Punjab Kings got off to a stunning start, the opening duo of Jonny Bairstow and Shikhar Dhawan started their innings by trashing SRH bowlers all around the ground to gather 28 runs without the loss in under three overs.
But the opening duo could not stand long as Bairstow fell prey to Fazalhaq Farooqi's delivery after scoring 23 runs. This wicket brought Shahrukh Khan to the crease and he smashed a brilliant six to the Bhuvneshwar Kumar's delivery.
The duo of Dhawan and Khan anchored the great partnership for PBKS as they took their team's score to 66-1. In the seventh over of the innings, Umran Malik removed Shahrukh Khan.
Punjab skipper Mayank Agarwal then came to bat but could not do much he handed a catch to Jagadeesha Suchith off Washington Sundar's delivery. At that stage, Punjab needed a great partnership to win the match. Stra batter of Punjab then Liam Livingstone came to bat and opened his tally with a big six. In the next over Livingstone struck two back-to-back sixes to Umran Malik's delivery to gather 15 runs.
The pair of Livingstone and Dhawan took their team's score beyond 100-runs in the 11th over of the innings. After a brilliant partnership stand of 41 runs, Dhawan was bowled by Fazalhaq Farooqi, leaving PBKS's core at 112/4.
Jitesh Sharma then came to the crease and smashed two fours in the over of Farooqi. Sharma was trying to anchor the PBKS innings, while Livingstone was playing an aggressive game. Sharma continued his blistering form in the next over too as he smashed one four and one six. Jagadeesha Suchith ended a quick inning of Sharma and sent him back to the pavilion.
The debutant Prerak Mankad then came to bat. Livingstone hammered Romario Shepherd for 23 and the equation of the chase went down to 2 runs in 30 balls. Mankad finished the match with a brilliant four as they chased down the target with 29 balls remaining.
Earlier, tight bowling by Punjab Kings, led by Harpreet Brar and Nathan Ellis's three-wicket haul respectively helped PBKS restrict Sunrisers Hyderabad's total at 157/8 here at Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.
Abhishek Sharma top-scored for SRH as he smashed 43 runs, while Romario Shepherd played a quick brilliant unbeaten knock of 26 runs in 15 runs. For PBKS, Harpreet Brar and Nathan Ellis bagged three wickets each.
Opted to bat first, Sunrisers Hyderabad had a struggling start, Kagiso Rabada gave his team an early breakthrough as he removed Priyam Garg in the third over. Rahul Tripathi then came to bat with Abhishek Sharma to keep the scoreboard ticking.
The duo anchored a great inning as they trashed Punjab bowlers all around the ground. After scoring 20 runs Tripathi fell prey to Harpreet Brar's delivery in the ninth over, leaving SRH's score at 61/2.
Despite the departure of Tripathi, Abhishek Sharma continued trashing bowlers. After 10 overs SRH's score read 71/2. For PBKS Harpreet struck again as he removed well-settled batter Sharma, who scored 43 runs in 32 balls.
Nicholas Pooran then came to the crease to help his team to post a challenging total but could not stand long as he was removed by Nathan Ellis after scoring just five runs. Aiden Markram soon followed Pooran back to the pavilion after scoring 21 runs.
Washington with Romario Shepherd smashed Nathan Ellis for 17 runs in the 17th over. The duo continued carnage on PBKS bowlers as they snatched 19 runs in Kagiso Rabada's spell. In the last over of the first innings, Washington Sundar went back to the pavilion but brought up a crucial 58 runs partnership with Shepherd.
Nathan Ellis gave two last overblows to the SRH batters as he removed Washington Sundar and Jagadeesha Suchith in a single over to restrict Sunrisers Hyderabad's total at 157/8 in 20 overs.
Brief score: Sunrisers Hyderabad 157/8 (Abhishek Sharma 43, Romario Shepherd 26*; Harpreet Brar 3-26) vs Punjab Kings 160/5 (Liam Livingstone 49*, Shikhar Dhawan 39; Fazalhaq Farooqi 2-32).
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