IPL 2018, SRH vs KXIP: 5 talking points
Sunrisers Hyderabad scripted a huge upset by beating Kings XI Punjab by 13 runs at Hyderabad. In a low scoring encounter, SRH were restricted to 132/6 thanks to a sensational spell of 5/14 by Ankit Rajpoot who took the first 5-wicket haul of the competition.
In reply, KXIP were off to a brilliant start as openers KL Rahul and Chris Gayle added 55 runs before being dismissed in quick succession. Their dismissals triggered a massive downfall in KXIP's batting as the middle-order batsmen were sent back quickly by the SRH bowlers. Punjab eventually fell short of the target by 13 runs.
The win saw SRH rise up to second in the standings while KXIP slipped to 3rd. Let's take a look at five talking points of the match.
#5 Lack of T20 prowess shown by the SRH middle order tonight
After losing their first three batsmen in quick succession, one would generally expect the other batsmen to patiently settle down and then elevate the scoring-rate. The remainder of the SRH batting did settle down but they did not show much aggressive intent during the innings.
Manish Pandey and Shakib Al Hasan added 52 runs for the fourth wicket but it came from 53 deliveries. Pandey went on to score 54 but from 51 deliveries and Shakib scored 28 from 29 deliveries. Even Yusuf Pathan scored 21 from 19 balls. These aren't numbers one expects from three batsmen who have a fine T20 batting record, one of them scoring one of the fastest fifties in IPL.
SRH came through because of their bowling, and a batting display like this against the likes of KKR or CSK will make it hard for them to get a defendable total.