Ishant Sharma, Axar Patel, and Rahul Tewatia were brought back into our playing XI for the match against the in-form Sunrisers Hyderabad. Qila Kotla was painted blue by our fans and the stage was set for another enthralling encounter.
Sunrisers Hyderabad chose to bowl first after winning the toss. We didn't get off to the best of starts. Prithvi Shaw was bowled by Bhuvneshwar in the 3rd over while Kaul sent Dhawan back to the pavilion in the 5th over. Our scoreline stood at 36/2 after 6 overs.
Rishabh Pant's departure for just 5 runs right after the strategic time-out put further pressure on the boys. It was a big test for our Shreyas Iyer and our middle order as the score stood at 56/3 at the end of 10 overs.
Things went from bad to worse as Rahul Tewatia did not read Sandeep Sharma's knuckle ball in the 11th over and chipped it to cover - where Nabi took an easy catch.
Shreyas Iyer was batting well at one end but wickets kept falling at the other. After Pant and Tewatia, Colin Ingram became our third batsman to get out for 5 runs. A smart catch at point from Manish Pandey at point sent him walking in the 14th over.
At this stage, our boys were 75/5 after 13.3 overs - and Iyer was at the crease along with Chris Morris. Just when our skipper was looking to accelerate, a wrong one from Rashid Khan foxed him and he got bowled. Bhuvneshwar got Morris out for 17 in the 19th over.
Axar's cameo of 23 runs from 13 deliveries helped us get to a total of 129 runs at the end of 20 overs. It was time for Bhuvneshwar Kumar and his troops to bat.
Iyer opted for a new strategy and gave the ball to Lamichhane to bowl the first over. The youngster helped us get off to a good start and bowled a tidy over - conceding just 6 runs.
Axar Patel bowled the 2nd over for us. He got a brilliant chance on the 2nd delivery itself as Bairstow skipped down the track to hit a flat-batted shot. Axar had the opportunity to catch the ball on his left but it was a difficult one as the ball was travelling with some pace. The all-rounder got both hands to it but the ball just popped out of his hands.
Bairstow went on the offensive thereafter and scored 48 runs off 28 deliveries. This knock took the game away from us. SRH were 62/0 at the end of 6 overs.
Tewatia came on in the 7th over and got us the first breakthrough in the form of Bairstow. Our speedster Rabada also got another crucial wicket of Warner in the very next over. Patel, Tewatia, and Lamichhane bowled a few tidy overs to put pressure on Vijay Shankar and Mandeep Pandey.
The build-up pressure paid dividends. Pandey decided to release the pressure by playing a big shot in the 13th over but he was caught at deep square by Shaw off Ishant Sharma's bowling. At the end of Sharma's over - SRH needed 35 runs from 42 deliveries with 7 wickets in hand.
Vijay Shankar was batting smartly and kept the scoreboard ticking for SRH. Axar did the trick for us and got him out in the 15th over.
The match became extremely interesting when Lamichhane got the wicket of Deepak Hooda in his 4th and final over.
SRH required 19 runs from the last 4 overs but there were 2 new batsmen - in the form of Yusuf Pathan and Nabi - at the crease. Our bowlers did an exceptional job to take the game till the very end but ultimately the score proved to be a bit low to defend. A four and a six from Nabi in the penultimate over sealed the deal.
Here is what Shreyas Iyer had to say after the match against SRH:
"In the first few overs we had almost lost the game. The way we came back, it was something to be appreciated. The bowlers are really mentally strong at the moment. It's another learning for us. We will come back positive and strong."
Ishant Sharma, Axar Patel, and Rahul Tewatia were brought back into our playing XI for the match against the in-form Sunrisers Hyderabad. Qila Kotla was painted blue by our fans and the stage was set for another enthralling encounter.
Sunrisers Hyderabad chose to bowl first after winning the toss. We didn't get off to the best of starts. Prithvi Shaw was bowled by Bhuvneshwar in the 3rd over while Kaul sent Dhawan back to the pavilion in the 5th over. Our scoreline stood at 36/2 after 6 overs.
Rishabh Pant's departure for just 5 runs right after the strategic time-out put further pressure on the boys. It was a big test for our Shreyas Iyer and our middle order as the score stood at 56/3 at the end of 10 overs.
Things went from bad to worse as Rahul Tewatia did not read Sandeep Sharma's knuckle ball in the 11th over and chipped it to cover - where Nabi took an easy catch.
Shreyas Iyer was batting well at one end but wickets kept falling at the other. After Pant and Tewatia, Colin Ingram became our third batsman to get out for 5 runs. A smart catch at point from Manish Pandey at point sent him walking in the 14th over.
At this stage, our boys were 75/5 after 13.3 overs - and Iyer was at the crease along with Chris Morris. Just when our skipper was looking to accelerate, a wrong one from Rashid Khan foxed him and he got bowled. Bhuvneshwar got Morris out for 17 in the 19th over.
Axar's cameo of 23 runs from 13 deliveries helped us get to a total of 129 runs at the end of 20 overs. It was time for Bhuvneshwar Kumar and his troops to bat.
Iyer opted for a new strategy and gave the ball to Lamichhane to bowl the first over. The youngster helped us get off to a good start and bowled a tidy over - conceding just 6 runs.
Axar Patel bowled the 2nd over for us. He got a brilliant chance on the 2nd delivery itself as Bairstow skipped down the track to hit a flat-batted shot. Axar had the opportunity to catch the ball on his left but it was a difficult one as the ball was travelling with some pace. The all-rounder got both hands to it but the ball just popped out of his hands.
Bairstow went on the offensive thereafter and scored 48 runs off 28 deliveries. This knock took the game away from us. SRH were 62/0 at the end of 6 overs.
Tewatia came on in the 7th over and got us the first breakthrough in the form of Bairstow. Our speedster Rabada also got another crucial wicket of Warner in the very next over. Patel, Tewatia, and Lamichhane bowled a few tidy overs to put pressure on Vijay Shankar and Mandeep Pandey.
The build-up pressure paid dividends. Pandey decided to release the pressure by playing a big shot in the 13th over but he was caught at deep square by Shaw off Ishant Sharma's bowling. At the end of Sharma's over - SRH needed 35 runs from 42 deliveries with 7 wickets in hand.
Vijay Shankar was batting smartly and kept the scoreboard ticking for SRH. Axar did the trick for us and got him out in the 15th over.
The match became extremely interesting when Lamichhane got the wicket of Deepak Hooda in his 4th and final over.
SRH required 19 runs from the last 4 overs but there were 2 new batsmen - in the form of Yusuf Pathan and Nabi - at the crease. Our bowlers did an exceptional job to take the game till the very end but ultimately the score proved to be a bit low to defend. A four and a six from Nabi in the penultimate over sealed the deal.
Here is what Shreyas Iyer had to say after the match against SRH:
"In the first few overs we had almost lost the game. The way we came back, it was something to be appreciated. The bowlers are really mentally strong at the moment. It's another learning for us. We will come back positive and strong."
