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Rediff.com  » Cricket » Turning Point: Punjab's flop batting

Turning Point: Punjab's flop batting

By HARISH KOTIAN
April 22, 2021 06:36 IST
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IMAGE: Rashid Khan appeals successfully for Chris Gayle's wicket. Photograph: BCCI
 

Punjab Kings batsmen failed to live up to expectations as they went down to Sunrisers Hyderabad by nine wickets and slipped to the bottom of the IPL standings.

Punjab failed to make the most of winning the toss on a slow pitch, losing a few early wickets to hand the initiative to Sunrisers.

Captain K L Rahul started off cautiously before he miscued the pull shot and was caught at short midwicket off Bhuvneshwar Kimar for four.

Mayank Agarwal failed to carry on after getting off to a start, as he was brilliantly caught by Rashid Khan off pacer Khaleel Ahmed for 22.

Nicholas Pooran's nightmarish IPL continued as the West Indian was run out without facing a delivery, for his third duck in four innings.

Chris Gayle was done in by Rashid Khan's guile, trapped leg before for 15, while Deepak Hooda, who got a couple of reprieves, fell in the same fashion to left-arm spinner Abhishek Sharma.

The top and middle order came undone as Punjab lost four wickets for 24 runs in the space of 34 balls to be left reeling on 63/5 in the 12th over.

Shahrukh Khan tried his best with 22 from 17 balls, but Punjab were bowled out for a lowly 120 in 19.4 overs, Khaleel taking 3/21 in four overs, while Abhishek bagged 2/24.

Punjab's innings never got going as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals, none of the top batsmen willing to do the hard work in the middle overs by looking to carry on after getting off to starts.

In the absence of a world class spinner or a deadly pace bowler, Punjab were unable to mount a challenge with the ball and Sunrisers eased to victory with eight balls to spare.

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HARISH KOTIAN / Rediff.com

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