IPL 2017: Manan Vohra leads a one-man army, but Bhuvneshwar Kumar wins the war
After dismantling the top order, Bhuvneshwar Kumar returned to dismiss the rampaging Manan Vohra in the penultimate over. (Source: BCCI) After dismantling the top order, Bhuvneshwar Kumar returned to dismiss the rampaging Manan Vohra in the penultimate over. (Source: BCCI)
Warner’s restrained masterclass
David Warner is usually vulnerable on the side of impatience. SunRisers Hyderabad’s previous game, against Kolkata Knight Riders, provided the latest example. He was tied up by the spinners at Eden Gardens, eventually perishing to a wild swing off Kuldeep Yadav. On Monday, against Kings XI Punjab, the Hyderabad captain looked determined not to repeat the mistake. The end result was a mature, match-winning knock; pretty uncharacteristic but hugely effective.
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The Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium pitch for this game wasn’t a typical T20 belter, far from it. The ball gripped and turned, and hardly came onto the bat. The challenging surface demanded restraint and Warner brilliantly played to the situation and conditions to carry his bat and score 70 not out off 54 balls. Until the 13th over after Hyderabad had been sent in, the skipper was going at a strike rate of below 100. But his range and innovations allowed him to up the ante towards the back end of the innings. Warner’s batting judiciousness is a rarity. Not that his batting is completely one-dimensional. In September last year, he had played a similarly measured innings and made 106 off 126 balls to help Australia win an ODI against Sri Lanka in a low-scoring affair in Pallekele. He captained his country in that game. Here, as Hyderabad captain, he scored his fifth consecutive half-century against Punjab in the IPL – 34th overall – to wear the Orange Cap. From his team’s point of view, however, returning to winning ways was far more important. Warner revels in captaincy.
Throughout his innings, the Aussie chose the loose balls to attack to perfection. But against the likes of callow KC Cariappa, he also played mind games. His switch-hit off the bowler for a six was the shot of the match. He rightly picked a flat delivery and had the psychological upper hand on Cariappa. And when the latter changed his action and went low-arm, Warner’s trigger movement towards the off stump forced an error in line and length. The full toss outside leg stump had been helped along to the long leg boundary.
Bhuvneshwar saves the day
A score of 159 seemed more than enough when Kings XI Punjab were reduced to 82/6 in the 14th over. But Manan Vohra’s extraordinary assault brought down the job to manageable proportions. With the visitors needing 35 in the last four overs, they would have been fancying their chances, especially with Manan Vohra in sublime touch.
It is here that Bhuvneshwar Kumar made the decisive intervention. After dismising Hashim Amla and Glenn Maxwell at the start of the chase, the Uttar Pradesh bowler came back to take three more in his last two overs, conceding only 12 runs in the 17th and 19th overs. He nailed his yorkers to perfection, the most vital of them trapping Vohra right in front when he threatened to take the game away from the SunRisers.
Vohra, the talk of Uppal
At 82 for six in the 14th over, Punjab looked done and dusted, chasing 160 for victory. But Vohra decided to go down fighting. And what a spectacular fight it turned out to be! Barinder Sran was clobbered for a six and four in the 15th over and then, Vohra focused his attention towards the young Afghan sensation Rashid Khan.
The leggie had two wickets in his first spell but looked clueless against Vohra’s aggression. His googlies were picked with ridiculous ease and taken to the cleaners.
A 21-run over suddenly threw the contest wide open. Mohit Sharma departed, but Vohra rolled along, hitting Kumar for a four and sending Siddarth Kaul several rows back over long-on.
The equation came down to 16 off 12 balls, but Hyderabad had India’s best death-overs bowler at the moment on form. A yorker cleaned up Cariappa and another one accounted for Vohra to give the medium pacer his first-ever five-wicket haul in T20 cricket. Hyderabad won by five runs, but Vohra, the tragic hero, became the talk of Uppal. But it bodes well for Kings XI Punjab.
Brief Scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad159/6 in 20 overs (David Warner 70 not out off 54 balls, Naman Ojha 34 off 20 balls, Mohit Sharma 2/25, Axar Patel 2/33) beat Kings XI Punjab 154 in 19.4 overs (Manan Vohra 95 off 50 balls, Eoin Morgan 13 off 7 balls. Bhuvneshwar Kumar 5/19, Rashid Khan 2/42) by five runs at Hyderabad.
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