IPL 2017: Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s five wicket-haul saves the match for Sunrisers Hyderabad
Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s five-wicket haul was one of the two great performances that made up the match between KXIP and SRH at Hyderabad. (Source: IPL) Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s five-wicket haul was one of the two great performances that made up the match between KXIP and SRH at Hyderabad. (Source: IPL)
The match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kings XI Punjab, in the end, boils down to the performances of two players from either side. Manan Vohra’s 95 and Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s 5/19. It was the latter that trumped over the former but the match was the stage of two of the greatest T20 performances with the bat and the ball respectively.
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It was clear that Bhuvneshwar would be the most lethal weapon that SRH possess for the match when he dismissed Hashim Amla off the very first ball of the innings. He was smacked for a four off the very next ball by Glen Maxwell who came next but the latter eventually fell to Bhuvneshwar in the next over that he bowled. Kumar’s contribution to that part of the match ended and the two Afghans, Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi then took over, with a little help from Moises Henriques.
It seemed that Bhuvneshwar may not need to bowl another over at one point of the match. But then, Manan Vohra took over. He smashed Rashid for 21 runs off the 16th over and Punjab were right back in it. He could have used a stable non striker’s end but that was something that Mohit Sharma, and later KC Carriapa, failed to provide. Even then, he went about his business and all of a sudden it looked like SRH had conceded defeat.
Re-enter Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He set about repairing the damage by first taking out Mohit Sharma. In his next over, he dismissed the free-swinging Carriapa before finally taking the scalp of Vohra himself two balls later. That was his fifth wicket and also the pin that burst the KXIP balloon.
He was declared man of the match but, as great as that spell of death bowling was, the award would have probably gone to Vohra had Punjab pulled themselves over the line.
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