Hello and welcome to Sportstar's live coverage of tonight's Indian Premier League encounter between Kings XI Punjab and Sunrisers Hyderabad from the PCA Stadium in Mohali.
What a contest that turned out to be. From being nowhere in the contention to pushing Punjab to the brink of a defeat, Hyderabad made a match out of it, almost. With 11 required off the last over, KL Rahul and Sam Curran saw the team home with one ball and six wickets to spare. Rahul finished on an unbeaten 71 off 53 balls.
◘ Nabi to bowl the final over. Sam Curran has joined KL. TWO off the first ball. NINE IN FIVE. TWO off the second. SEVEN IN FOUR. Curran is on strike. ONE off the third. SIX OFF THREE. KL Rahul may just have sealed it with a BOUNDARY. TWO off TWO NOW. YES, Rahul hits the winning runs as Punjab scrapes past the finish line.
◘ Kaul to bowl the penultimate over. Mandeep Singh is the new man in. OUT! Mandeep Singh is out and more importantly, he has conceded just five off the over. Punjab needs 11 off 6 balls.
◘ Sandeep Sharma strikes, gets rid of Mayank Agarwal who is caught in the deep trying to up the ante. Agarwal goes for 55. David Miller is the new man in. 18 off 15 required now. Sandeep has snapped up Miller. And Punjab has lost two quick wickets here. Three runs and a wicket off that over. KXIP 135/3 after 18 overs.
◘ Kaul has been welcomed by Mayank with a gorgeous straight hit for six. Mayank gets to his fifth IPL fifty with a single. Top knock. KL Rahul, at the other end, gets a boundary too, absolutely murdered that one but full marks to Manish Pandey for trying to keep the ball in play. 14 off the over. KXIP 132/1 after 17 overs. Punjab needs 19 runs in 18 balls
◘ Bhuvi is back for his last over. DROPPED . Mayank offers a simple chance but Yusuf Pathan has made a mess of it. That should have been taken. Agarwal gets two for it in the end. Eight off the over in the end. Bhuvi's figures: 4-0-25-0. KXIP 119/1 after 16 overs.Punjab needs 32 runs in 24 balls
◘ Sandeep returns for his third. Starts by conceding a brace. Should be a walk in the park for Punjab. Two Karnataka batsmen leading the run chase for Punjab. Six runs off that over. KXIP 111/1 after 15 overs. Punjab needs 40 runs in 30 balls
◘ Rashid to bowl out. Finishes his quota with just three off the last over. 0 1 0 0 1 1. Rashid's figures: 4-0-20-1. KXIP 105/1 after 14 overs.
◘ Nabi is back into the attack. His first two went for 20. Delicate touch from KL, opens the face at the last minute and runs it down to third-man for four. Seven off the first four. KL reaches his fifty with a boundary and Punjab brings up its 100. KXIP 102/1 after 13 overs.
◘ Rashid to bowl his third. Four off it. Punjab cruising at the moment. KXIP 90/1 after 12 overs. 61 required off the last eight balls.
◘ Kaul to continue, and Agarwal has taken full toll of that. Hits a length ball to covers for four. WOW! Rahul has pulled that handsomely over deep mid-wicket for four before launching a maximum over long-off. Kaul is bleeding runs. KL in ominous touch. 17 off that over. KXIP 86/1 after 11 overs.
◘ Rashid Khan is back into the attack. Seven off it and the 50-run stand comes up for KL and Mayank. 82 off the last 10 overs. KXIP 69/1 after 10 overs.
◘ Siddarth Kaul to bowl his first over of the night. Rahul is looking in fine touch, drives a Kaul delivery handsomely through extra cover for four. 10 runs from the over. KXIP 62/1 after 9 overs and it's time for the strategic time-out. Punjab needs 89 runs in 66 balls.
◘ Nabi to bowl his second. Beautiful shot from KL, rocks back and cuts it and cuts it hard to collect four. Mayank follows it up with a superb six to deep mid-wicket. Punjab brings up its 50 in the eighth over. 12 in the over. KXIP 55/1 after 8 overs.
◘ Sandeep is back into the attack. Three off the first three balls. Good, tight over so far from Sandeep. Two off the next three. Five off it in the end. KXIP 43/1 after 7 overs. The partnership between KL and Mayank is 25 off 23 balls.
◘ Mohammad Nabi has been introduced into the attack. Two dots and a single off the first three deliveries. Nabi errs in length, and Mayank punishes him with a six over long-on. Eight off it. KXIP 38/1 after 6 overs.
◘ Bhuvi to continue. KL Rahul begins with a boundary to third-man, Siddarth Kaul misfields near the ropes. Bhuvi responds with three dots. KXIP 30/1 after 5 overs.
◘ GONE. Rashid Khan, you genius. Strikes with the first ball off his first over. Gayle has holed out to Deepak Hooda. Big wicket in context of the match. Mayank Agarwal is the new man in and he drills one down the ground for four. Finishes off with a dot. Six and a wicket. KXIP 24/1 after 4 overs.
◘ BAM! Gayle hits his first six of the night, good length ball from Bhuvneshwar disappears into the stands. Good comeback from Bhuvi though, just three off the next five. KXIP 18/0 after 3 overs.
◘ Sandeep Sharma to share the new ball. Gayle's first scoring shot is a mighty heave over long-on for four. Right in the slot for the giant Caribbean. off it in the end. KXIP 9/0 after 2 overs.
◘ KL off the mark with a single. Jaffa! Angles one across Gayle, just enough movement to beat Gayle's edge . Two off the over so far, and two it remains. KXIP 2/0 after 1 over.
KL Rahul and Chris Gayle to begin the chase, Bhuvneshwar Kumar with the new ball.
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Warner's 70 off 62 balls has steered SRH to a modest score of 150. Deepak Hooda's 3-ball 14 buoyed Hyderabad's scoring in the last over. Kings XI needs 151 to win.
◘ Manish Pandey holes out and Shami has his first wicket. Warner's on strike. Gets a single and gives Deepak Hooda the strike. W 0 1 so far. And he has given away a boundary. Lucky for Hooda, he got an inside edge, otherwise that would have been plumb in front. Hooda follows it up a spectacular straight drive,much better. VALUABLE RUNS. HOODA, YOU BEAUTY. He finishes it off in a style, a full toss has been put away for a six and SRH finishes on 150.
◘ Curran to bowl the penultimate over. Manish Pandey waits and waits, opens the face of the bat at the last minute and helps it towards the third-man for four. Warner ends it with a boundary. 11 coming off it. SRH 135/3. 31 OFF THE LAST THREE.
◘ Rajpoot returns for the 18th. Five off the first four balls and Warner wraps it up with a double. Eight off it. SRH 124/3 after 18 overs.
◘ Shami is back into the attack. Manish Pandey greets him with a four, gives himself room and plonks it to the fence. Shami has been brilliant so far. His first two overs went for just three! And Warner joins the fun, picked up the slower ball and dispatched it for a four. 11 off the first five. And concedes a single to finish off the over. SRH 116/3 after 17 overs.
◘ Mujeeb is welcomed by Warner with a MAXIMUM over long-on. FIRST SIX of the innings comes in the 16th over. He follows it up with a single. Punjab brings up its 100. Warner reaches his fifty — HIS SLOWEST IPL fifty — with a brace. 12 off it. SRH 104/3 after 16 overs It's time for the strategic time-out.
◘ Curran is back. An appeal for lbw against Manish Pandey, given not out but they decide NOT TO review. Jeez! That was plumb. An opportunity goes begging. Just four runs off that over. Could have been a wicket too. SRH 92/3 after 15 overs.
◘ Ashwin is back into the attack, this is his last over. GONE! Nabi is run-out! Nabi was backing away and Ashwin has done well to first stop the ball and then parry it on to the stumps. Manish Pandey joins Warner in the middle. Warner, though, has decided to up the ante, gets a boundary right after the dismissal. Nine runs and a wicket. SRH 88/3 after 14 overs.
◘ Mujeeb is back for his third. Warner brings out the reverse sweep and gets a four, swept away to deep point. That's just the fifth boundary of this innings. Nabi then collects a three. Looks like Mayank Agarwal has hurt his finger while fielding in the deep. Mujeeb ends with a dot ball. 10 off it. SRH 79/2 after 13 overs.
◘ Sam Curran to continue. Nabi collects two by working a length ball on the pads to square leg, gets a single next ball and gives the strike back to Warner. The Aussie holds the key here. At this rate, SRH will get to 111, NOT ENOUGH! Finishes the over with a couple of braces. SRH 69/2 after 12 overs.
◘ Ashwin to continue. And Vijay Shankar gets a much needed boundary to long-on, well timed by Shankar. GONE! Ashwin has broken the nagging stand , and it's a carrom ball that does the trick. Shankar tries to cut but is caught behind. Mohammad Nabi is the new man in. Warner, meanwhile, ends the over with a cracking four. 11 off it, the most expensive over so far. SRH 61/2 after 11 overs.
◘ First look at Sam Curran tonight. Starts off with one on a length around middle and leg, concedes a single. Seven off it in the end and Punjab has limped to 50 at the halfway mark. SRH 50/1 after 10 overs.
◘ Ashwin to continue. He's clocking 90 kilometres an hour on the speed gun, is Ashwin. With the big hits drying up, the two are focussing on converting the ones into twos, good thinking from the duo. Shankar misses the slider off the fifth ball and takes a single in the next ball. SRH 43/1 after 9 overs. And it's time for the strategic time out!
◘ Mujeeb is back for another crack. He conceded six in his first over. Three singles so far followed by a two. Still no signs of aggression from the two batsmen and a single to finish off the over. SRH 37/1 after 8 overs.
◘ Ravi Ashwin to roll his arm. Two singles and as many dots so far. And another dot, oh hello, Ashwin bowls a round arm delivery, reminiscent of India team-mate Kedar Jadhav's bowling action. A brace off the sixth ball and just four off the over. SRH 31/1 after 7 overs.
◘ Shami to bowl his second. Just two singles so far in the over. Punjab has been disciplined in its bowling in the Powerplay. Finishes with two dots. SRH 27/1 after 6 overs.
◘ Rajpoot is back for his third. Two singles followed by a dot. Tight start. Cracking delivery, holds its line and misses Shankar's edge by a whisker. Warner manages to score a boundary off the last ball, timed sweetly through mid-wicket. SRH 25/1 after 5 overs.
◘ Mohammad Shami gets his first over, Shankar works it to mid-on for a single. Pitching and leaving Warner, beautiful away going ball from Shami. Four consecutive dots. This is brilliant from Shami, fast and right at Warner's feet. And a dot to finish off the over. SRH 18/1 after 4 overs.
◘ Sandeep returns for his
third second, begins by conceding three leg-byes. Two slips in place for Warner. A single followed by three dot balls and ends the over giving away two, a misfield inside the ring allowing the batsmen to hare back for the second. Six off it.
SRH 17/1 after 3 overs.
◘ WICKET! Mujeeb gets rid of in-form Bairstow , Ashwin completing a fine catch at mid-wicket. And the move to bowl spin early has paid off. BIG WICKET this. Vijay Shankar is in at No. 3. Shankar drives and drives nicely to end the over with a boundary. Mujeeb ur Rehman to bowl some off-spin. Two wides and a misfield so far. SRH 11/1 after 2 overs.
◘ Rajpoot starts off with a wide. A quick single off the first ball, and Warner is up and running. Bairstow, too, gets off the mark with a single. Warner got that one off the middle of his bat but good stop by Mandeep. A dot to wrap up the first over. SRH 3/0 after 1 over.
David Warner and Jonny Bairstow to open for SRH, Ankit Rajpoot with the new ball.
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TOSS UPDATE: Ravichandran Ashwin has won the toss and Kings XI Punjab will bowl first.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): David Warner, Jonny Bairstow(w), Vijay Shankar, Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Yusuf Pathan, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar(c), Siddarth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma
Kings XI Punjab (Playing XI): Lokesh Rahul(w), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Sarfaraz Khan, David Miller, Mandeep Singh, Sam Curran, Ravichandran Ashwin(c), Ankit Rajpoot, Mohammed Shami, Mujeeb Ur Rahman
"It is an important phase of the tournament for us and we are trying to get the results we are after. We, as a bowling unit, like to bowl wherever and however we need to. It's all about the team, so if Ash (Ashwin) wants us to do something, we will do it. It's a good trait of ours as a bowling unit," says KXIP seamer Andrew Tye.
"I think it's important to create a relaxed atmosphere when you are in the dugout. So as coaching staff, we ensure there are no nerves. That said, it is (keeping calm) very natural to all of us. We are not putting up an artificial look. The talent we have got in the squad; there's a lot of self-belief, so because of that irrespective of the situation, everyone is composed," Sunrisers mentor VVS Laxman on the mood in the dugout.
PITCH REPORT| "There is even covering of grass on this wicket. The average first-innings total in the last five matches in Mohali has been 180 and it looks good for batting. The largest part of the ground is the long-on region; 84metres," notes Darren Ganga.
Right then, a week from now , the national selectors will meet in Mumbai to pick the 15 players who will fly to England for the 2019 World Cup. Despite India captain Virat Kohli making it clear, before the start of the IPL, that the T20 league will have no bearing on WC squad selection. The likes of Ajinkya Rahane, and Khaleel Ahmed will be hoping otherwise. The No. 4 batting spot has become a raging debate in the lead-up to the World Cup, with M.S. Dhoni, too, expressing his willingness to bat anywhere in the middle during India's tour Down Under. Who will make the cut?
One of the prospects, Vijay Shankar, will be in action tonight. Shankar has been used as a floater by the Sunrisers but the Tamil Nadu batsman has shown the nous and technique to bat at 4.
Young England all-rounder Sam Curran has already made a name for himself with his sharp inswingers and currently in the company of senior India pacer Mohammed Shami at the KXIP camp, the 20-year-old sees himself improving significantly after his maiden stint in the IPL | Sam Curran sees himself as a better bowler after maiden IPL stint
FOLLOW: 2019 IPL FULL COVERAGE
For Ashwin and Punjab, it would be a welcome return to familiar surroundings, a homecoming to what has been a well-defended fortress.
Here's Uthra Ganesan's preview of tonight's contest:
IPL 2019: Kings XI, Sunrisers look to rebound
As the two weary teams arrived here on Sunday after suffering frustrating losses in their games on Saturday, R. Ashwin and Bhuvneshwar Kumar will hope for a change in fortunes when Kings XI Punjab and Sunrisers Hyderabad face-off on Monday.
For Ashwin and Punjab, it would be a welcome return to familiar surroundings, a homecoming to what has been a well-defended fortress. The host has won both games played here this season — one each with the bat and ball — and would be keen to put the disappointment of defeat to Super Kings, chasing a below-par target, behind.
K.L. Rahul and Sarfaraz Khan got the runs but failed to step up the momentum and finish off the game. That they could not do so despite wickets in hand and wayward CSK bowling towards the end would rankle even more.
READ| IPL 2019: Bails don't fall, first for Dhoni, Rahul and now Lynn
On the other hand, the Punjab bowling managed to impress again, especially the spin duo of Ashwin and (Murugan) Ashwin in the middle overs, restricting the scoring. They would be expected to do it again against Sunrisers, whose middle-order was tested for the first time on Saturday against Mumbai Indians and came up short.
It was a rare failure from the David Warner-Jonny Bairstow combination at the top although, to be fair, the Sunrisers batsmen were up against a scintillating 22-year-old fast bowler Alzarri Joseph who rewrote IPL bowling records on debut.
Bhuvneshwar would also be hoping more from Siddarth Kaul who has been profligate and inconsistent even though teams have been smartly cautious against the Afghan spin pair of Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi.
The match will be streamed live on Hotstar.
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