Vohra heroics in vain as Sunrisers outshine Kings XI
Manan Vohra's superb 50-ball 95 for Kings XI Punjab proved in vain as they lost by five runs to Sunrisers Hyderabad on Monday in a thrilling Indian Premier League clash.
Captain David Warner made an unbeaten 70 to help Sunrisers to a total of 159-6, which looked out of reach for the Kings XI as they crumbled to 82-6 in reply.
However, Vohra kept the match alive in hugely impressive fashion and had the Kings XI within 16 runs of victory going into the final two overs.
Punjab's standout batsman was ultimately denied a century by Bhuvneshwar Kumar (5-19), whose man-of-the-match display proved decisive.
Tailenders Sandeep Sharma and Ishant Sharma reduced the equation to six needed from three balls, but Siddarth Kaul (1-26) recovered his composure to skittle Ishant and seal a dramatic victory.
Sunrisers were left struggling on 50-3 when Axar Patel (2-33) took the wickets of Moises Henriques (9) and Yuvraj Singh (0) with consecutive deliveries.
Warner and Naman Ojha (34) mounted a recovery with a 60-run partnership before the latter fell in the 16th over.
Despite Warner's performance - which saw him regain his position as the top run-scorer in the IPL with 235 - Sunrisers looked set to fall short of the 150 mark.
Yet Warner was dropped over the rope for six at long-off by Eoin Morgan and Rashid Khan finished the innings with a maximum in a final over that would prove crucial.
Hashim Amla (0) and Glenn Maxwell (10) fell in the first three overs of the Kings XI chase, which seemed in disarray after Morgan (13), David Miller (1) and Wriddhiman Saha (0) were also dismissed cheaply.
Vohra, though, held the innings together - striking nine fours and five maximums to put his side in position to claim an unlikely success.
Even after Vohra became Bhuvneshwar's fifth victim, trapped lbw by a low full toss, the Kings XI retained hope as Kaul gave up five runs in the first three balls of the last over, only to redeem himself by shattering Ishant's off stump.