IPL 2019: Fans hail KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal as KXIP beats SRH
Sunrisers came into this match at the back of a huge batting failure against Mumbai Indians and the same was evident in today's match. Even a David Warner half-century could only get to 150. Unlike SRH, KXIP players, especially KL Rahul, learned from their mistakes. Rahul with unbeaten half-century ensured that his side ended up winning the match by 6 wickets.
Earlier in the match, SRH who were asked to bat first by the Kings XI Punjab, were under severe pressure early in the innings as they lost the wicket of Jonny Bairstow early in the innings. Mujeeb Ur Rahman sent back the English wicket-keeper batsman to the pavilion in the second over of the match.
After Bairstow's dismissal, David Warner and Vijay Shankar could not make the most of the field restrictions. In the powerplay overs, SRH managed to score only 27 runs for the loss of one wicket.
Warner and Shankar steadied the innings with 49 run partnership but it took 54 balls for them to add those runs. After Shankar's dismissal, the Sunrisers Management tried out Mohammad Nabi at four but the Afghan all-rounder's stay at the crease was cut short by a run-out from Ravichandran Ashwin.
The next batsman, Manish Pandey, was involved in a 55-run partnership with Warner. The partnership which lasted for 35 balls increased the scoring rate slightly.
Warner scored a hard-fought 70 off 62 balls but his side would not have reached the 150-mark if not for the exploits of Deepak Hooda. Hooda, who came into bat in the last over, hit two fours and a six in the three balls that he played to take SRH to 150 in 20 overs.
During the chase, Rashid Khan sent back the dangerous Chris Gayle off his very first ball but KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal did not allow Sunrisers Hyderabad to take control of the game.
During the powerplay overs, Rahul and Agarwal batted risk-free cricket and scored 38 runs in 6 overs. While Rahul went onto score his half-century off just 34 balls, Mayank Agarwal reached the mark in 40 balls.
The two Karnataka batsmen added 114 runs for the second wicket but three quick wickets of Mayank Agarwal, David Miller, and Mandeep Singh brought some life into the game.
While KXIP needed 11 runs off the last over bowled by Nabi, a calm and composed KL Rahul, who scored a magnificent 71 off just 53 balls, took his side home.
Here's how Twitter reacted to Kings XI Punjab's win over Sunrisers Hyderabad:
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