Sourav SinhaIPL 2020: Match 43: A low scoring thriller keeps Kings XI in the hunt

25October

IPL 2020: Match 43: A low scoring thriller keeps Kings XI in the hunt

Kings XI Punjab has been on the rise over the last couple of weeks. They defeated all the top 3 sides (Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Delhi Capitals) recently and are serious challengers for the 4th spot. They have an excellent team but somehow they found ways to lose winnable matches. But with the advent of Chris Gayle and Jordan getting some form it looks like a different outfit altogether. They needed to keep the momentum going because Sunrisers Hyderabad also had a chance to replace them as the challenger for the 4th spot. So when these 2 teams met in Dubai yesterday – I expected a close encounter. So how did it go?

Here are my 5 points highlights of the match.

1. Jason Holder

Jason Holder came as a replacement for Mitch Marsh midseason. And he had an impact straight away from the time he was drafted into the side. He is not one of those who is super quick but he is one man who will keep coming at you relentlessly. And with the height advantage, he gets a good bounce on any wicket. Chris Gayle on the other hand had an equal impact on Kings XI Punjab. From the time he has been drafted into the side – Kings XI’s fortunes have changed and they are yet to lose a match. So his wicket was very vital for Sunrisers Hyderabad and Jason Holder did the trick by picking him up. His final bowling analysis read 2/27 and that was a pretty good effort by the lanky pace bowler from West Indies.

2. Rashid Khan

Rashid Khan plays a very vital role in the Sunrisers’ set up. This year though he has not been able to pick up a lot of wickets because the teams have cut down on their shots when he is coming into bowl. That of course meant that he was able to keep things quiet and that’s good enough because Sunrisers is one team where the inexperienced bowlers have done well. Yesterday though Rashid Khan made a bigger impact because he picked up two vital wickets including one of KL Rahul. He finished with 2/14 in 4 overs and was instrumental in keeping Kings XI to only 126 which should have been an easy total to chase for Sunrisers Hyderabad.

3. Arshdeep Singh

Arshdeep Singh has been a revelation in this IPL. An absolutely unknown bowler has now become one of the main strike bowlers for Kings XI Punjab. He doesn’t have much pace but what he has is good line and length and he also bowls good yorkers outside the off-stump which makes it mighty difficult for batsmen to hit him. He just kept bowling that length consistently yesterday and wickets kept coming. In the middle overs, Shankar became the mainstay and his wicket at an important point turned out to be the real turning point at the end. Arshdeep finished with 3/23 and played a very big role in yesterday’s come from the behind victory for Kings XI Punjab.

4. Ravi Bishnoi

Ravi Bishnoi made quite a name for himself in the U-19 world cup. I have rarely seen a wrist spinner with so much accuracy in line and length. He hardly bowls hittable balls and hence it’s not so easy to hit him. At just 18 years old, this kid seems to be ready to play for India. Yesterday one man who was all set to take Sunrisers home was David Warner. No batsmen played with any authority yesterday other than David Warner. David Warner was batting on 35 off 19 balls when Ravi Bishnoi foxed him. With the team score above 50 runs in the 6th over – it looked like an easy victory for Sunrisers but that one wicket of Warner changed everything and somehow none of the batsmen thereafter came in terms to the slowness of the wicket. Bishnoi finished with 1/13 in 4 overs – a job well done.

5. Chris Jordan

Chris Jordan is regarded as a T20 specialist in International cricket but he has not been bowling to his potential and he had been missing his length way too much in the earlier matches. But we saw a different Jordan in the field yesterday. I guess the slowness of the pitch helped him and with other bowlers keeping their end tight he ended up taking some important wickets. This was not a big score to defend and with Shami bowled out early in the innings – the onus was on Jordan to take the team home. He did it with aplomb finishing with 3/17 in his 4 overs and guided his team to victory.

A pretty easy chase turned into a nightmare for Sunrisers Hyderabad. Their brittle middle order was exposed again. They are now virtually out of the tournament.