IPL 2020: Bairstow, Warner take Sunrisers Hyderabad to 201
Bairstow #Bairstow
Jonny Bairstow fell three runs short of a century as the Sunrisers Hyderabad racked up a competitive total against Kings XI Punjab in Dubai on Thursday night.
The Englishman, who had made 114 against the Royal Challengers Bangalore last season, conjured 97 as the Orange Army mounted 201-6 despite a late collapse, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Bairstow and his opening partner and captain David Warner added 160 runs to lead the march against Kings XI Punjab.
Bairstow was inching towards what would have been his second IPL hundred and the second of the season. But his sparkling knock was put to an end by young leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi, who had Bairstow leg before.
Bairstow’s knock, which came from 55 deliveries, was his fifth IPL half-century and third this season, and was studded with seven boundaries and six sixes.
The 31-year-old had earned a reprieve when on 19 after Kings XI Punjab skipper KL Rahul couldn’t hold on to a sharp chance at mid-off. And Kings XI Punjab paid a heavy price for it as Bairstow and Warner went on to put on their fifth 100 plus stand and their second successive century opening partnership against them.
Warner loves batting against Kings XI Punjab and that showed as the Australian bringing up his ninth successive half-century against them and the 46th of his IPL career.
The 40-ball 52, which contained five boundaries and a six, was his second successive half-century of the season and came on the back of his 60 against the Mumbai Indians at Sharjah, the other night.
Warner has scored more than 800 runs in 18 matches against Kings XI Punjab.
But the Sunrisers Hyderabad lost their way a little bit after Warner and Bairstow fell in quick succession. Manish Pandey, who had required 10 runs to complete 3000 runs in the IPL, gave a return catch to Arshdeep Singh, one of the three changes Kings XI Punjab had made.
Abdul Samad and Priyam Garg too followed before Kane Williamson and Abhishek Sharma took them to that total.
Following that nightmare of a start with the ball for Kings XI Punjab, Bishnoi was the pick of the bowlers, taking three for 29, while Arshdeep Singh took two for 33.
Warner called right at the toss and chose to have the first dig. And the southpaw’s call was proved right as the Sunrisers Hyderabad raced away against a hapless Kings XI Punjab.
Khaleel Ahmed came in place of Siddharth Kaul for Sunrisers Hyderabad, while Kings XI Punjab search for the right combination continued as they tinkered with their line-up yet again.
Mujeeb ur Rahman, Arshdeep Singh and Prabsimran Singh slotted in with Chris Jordan, Sarfaraz Khan and Harpreet Brar making way.
Brief scores:
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 201-6 in 20 overs (Jonny Bairstow 97, David Warner 52, Kane Williamson 20 not out, Abhishek Sharma 12) vs Kings XI Punjab.
Teams:
Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (C), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Kane Williamson, Manish Pandey, Priyam Garg, Abhishek Sharma, Abdul Samad, Rashid Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed, T Natarajan.
Kings XI Punjab: KL Rahul (C), Mayank Agarwal, Mandeep Singh, Nicholas Pooran, Glenn Maxwell, Prabsimran Singh (wk), Arshdeep Singh, Sheldon Cottrell, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Mohammad Shami, Ravi Bishnoi.
james@khaleejtimes.com