IPL 2020: Strike-rates are overrated - KL Rahul

IPL 2020: Anil Kumble reveals reason behind Chris Gayle's exclusion for the match against Sunrisers

Explosive opener Chris Gayle’s exclusion for the game between Kings XI Punjab and Sunrisers Hyderabad raised a few eyebrows. KXIP having lost four out of five games, needed a major shuffle to strengthen their batting line-up. However, Gayle yet again failed to make the cut in IPL 2020. Head coach Anil Kumble later revealed that the Jamaican batsman was set to play but he was down due to food poisoning. “Gayle was set to play against SRH but he is down with food poisoning,” said Kumble. Meanwhile, Mayank Agarwal, the KXIP batsman, had stated that Gayle is sharing his vast experience with the batters in the dressing room. Agarwal had played with Gayle at Royal Challengers Bangalore previously. The batter added that it’s always fantastic to have a conversation with the veteran. “Gayle is an integral part of KXIP whether playing or mentoring. He has been speaking to all of us, contributing in the batter’s meeting and also sharing stuff which is crucial. I have had great conversations with Gayle. We first played together in RCB and just watching him play and chatting is fantastic," Agarwal said. KL Rahul’s side lost to Hyderabad to mark their fifth loss in six games. The side is currently at the bottom of the points table with two points in their kitty. Powered by Froala Editor

IPL 2020 | SRH vs KXIP: 3 Reasons Why Hyderabad defeat Punjab by a big margin of 69 runs

The Sunrisers Hyderabad effected a clinical 69-run win over a disarrayed Kings XI Punjab in the 22nd match of the Indian Premier League on Thursday, 8 October at the Dubai International Stadium. Things went Sunrisers way from the start after captain David Warner won the toss and chose to bat first. With the venue overwhelming favouring the teams that bat first, nobody could complain about the decision. The prolific David Warner-Jonny Bairstow from the last season finally clicked together at the halfway mark of the tournament putting up 160-run together in just 15 overs. Runaway winners at that point of the match, SRH managed to give it up losing six wickets in the next five overs and were restricted to 201 in their registered 20 overs, at least 20-30 runs short of what they would have actually liked to defend with the makeshift bowling. Coming into the chase, none barring Nicholas Pooran fired in all cylinders and Punjab managed to mess up a difficult but achievable run chase in comical fashion. The West Indian waged a one-man war in a shot-laden innings of 77 where he hit 7 huge sixes and at the end of the day, it was just not enough with his teammates falling apart like a pack of cards. On that note here are the three reasons why Sunrisers Hyderabad won a crucial game in their campaign against KL Rahul’s Kings XI Punjab. David Warner and Jonny Bairstow Making a name for themselves in the last season as the most dangerous opening pair in the Indian Premier League, the unlikely combination of an Australia and an Englishmen scored a total of 1137 runs between them. Things were not coming off since the start of this season with David Warner unable to find his timing. With a partnership long overdue, both the batsmen broke their shackles to put together a stellar 160-run stand to entertain the crowd, err…the viewers at home. While Warner scored 52 off 40 balls and played the anchor role, Bairstow hit 6 sixes and 7 boundaries en route his 97-run innings. Warner later in the second innings, started the KXIP debacle affecting an excellent runout of in form Mayank Agarwal which halted Punjab's momentum from the get-go and put SRH in control of the game. Rashid Khan Rashid Khan is back to doing what he does best, picking wickets. With ace pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar out of the equation for the tournament, Rashid Khan has taken it upon himself to be the leader of the pack. This is the second time that Rashid picked up three wickets in a match this season and last night he was the sole reason KXIP had to give the fight. At the time when Pooran was playing one of the best innings of his life, Rashid Khan nonchalantly walked down his runup and bowled a well-measured googly at a good pace. Pooran punched the ball uppishly and put the ball in the safe hands of Khaleel Ahmed. Game! Set! Match! With Pooran gone and Rashid still left with one ball in his full quota of four overs, he caught a clueless Mohammed Shami plumb in front to pick up the eighth wicket of the KXIP innings. Mujeeb Ur Rahman Don’t get me wrong, I am not singling out any Punjab bowler because when you let Warner and Bairstow settle you can only sit back and watch. Mujeeb Ur Rahman finally got a chance to play in the first XI after much criticism of the Punjab thinktank about their bowling combination. He gave away 39 runs in his four overs failing to register any impact on the SRH batting line-up, but it was his batting that puts his name on this list. In the 14th over of the game, Mujeeb edged a ball back to the keeper. A loud appeal from bowler Khaleel Ahmed and keeper Bairstow was turned down by the on-field umpire but the umpires sent the decision upstairs to check for bump ball. Once the soft signal (not out) was overturned and as Mujeeb started walking back towards his dugout, he turned back and signalled for review himself. Now, according to the laws that govern the IPL, a batsman can neither consult the dugout nor can the dugout send out instructions to the batsmen to review an umpire’s decision. With umpires sending the decision back upstairs to check for an ultra-edge, Mujeeb had to take the long walk back again. The good thing is that Mujeeb’s review became inconsequential with Pooran giving a dolly into the hands of Khaleel. But with six overs still to go, what would have happened if there was a tight call involving Pooran? This could have turned out to be a huge talking point in the game and Twitter would have been up in arms against the young Afghan. KXIP losing one more match in the Indian Premier League 2020 means that they are the only team in the league, reeling at 2 points from six games. They have lost 4 consecutive games and for a side that looked so solid initially, their fallacies have been exposed by the other teams time and again. Punjab play their next match against Kolkata Knight Riders who would be on a high after restricting Chennai Super Kings in a mind-boggling game. Punjab will need to find the correct combination and just get on with it if they want to remain in the competition.

IPL 2020 | SRH vs KXIP: What experts said as KL Rahul's Kings XI surrenders against Sunrisers

The Sunrisers Hyderabad dominated the proceedings to thrash KL Rahul-led Kings XI Punjab by 69 runs at the Dubai International Stadium. Punjab were absolutely thumped by the men in orange and what looked like an impressive season, to begin with, is now starting to look like doomsday for the Kings XI Punjab in the IPL 2020. After a contrasting set of performances by both teams, captains had a lot to say about the game. The winning captain David Warner expressed his nervousness at the time when Nicholas Pooran was going berserk in the middle overs while the losing captain KL Rahul pointed out the things that his team was not good enough at. Captains’ reading of the game “I think when we lose wickets in the powerplay, it's always going to be tough, and getting Mayank run-out was a disaster. We kept losing wickets after that and it was one of those days where everything (aerial shots) went into the hands of fielders. The last five games we've been struggling in the death overs, but we pulled things back, else 230 was on the cards. Pooran is so good to watch, he's hitting proper cricketing shots. If we get a decent job at the start, he can do the job for us later. He's (Ravi Bishnoi) always enjoyed those situations, that's great to see for a youngster. All of them are professionals, and they know where they're going wrong. Everyone's working hard and they want to contribute to the team. They have proved themselves in the past, sometimes it doesn't come off, but you gotta be patient,’ said an introspecting KL Rahul after the loss. “I was a bit nervous while Nicholas was hitting it over the stands. I have always had high prospects for that kid. I was fortunate to play in Bangladesh with him. You always think, 'What can I do, how can I get him out?'. He's (Rashid) a world-class bowler, it's great to have him. He always delivers in pressure situations. He loves that stuff. What a player. Sad for Bhuvi, we wish him all the best, but having one of our best death bowlers out of the team gives others an opportunity for others. We love batting with each other. We pride ourselves in running hard between wickets. At the moment, I am just rotating strike for him (Bairstow). We enjoy batting with each other. We tried to negate the swing by coming at them (KXIP bowlers). We have got a tough game against RR, a day game, and have to start fresh again’” David Warner shared the difference of thighs developing in his mind during the game and the challenges that his team has on its hand going into the next phase of the tournament. Experts’ take Cricket experts such as Mark Nicholas and Pommie Mbangwa were not impressed by too much chopping and changing made by the Kings XI management. Mark Nicholas pointed to the selection of three different wicketkeepers in the six games of this season so far and said that it shows the team management does not quite know the best players of the team and also not backing players enough to guide them towards performances. Commentator Harsha Bhogle, too, talked about the insecurity of the Kings XI team and also reminded that the pair of Warner and Bairstow made sure that the agony will carry on for Anil Kumble and KL Rahul going ahead in the tournament. He also spoke highly of the contributions made by Rashid Khan and the way he had led the SRH blowing line up in every match. He also commended Nicholas Pooran’s talent and suggested the Kings XI Punjab to start afresh and that they have a quality support staff, it won’t be too difficult for them to turn it around. Jonny Bairstow's belligerent batting and the attitude caught the eye of former English captain Michael Vaughan who rated him as one of the best top-order batsmen of the 21st century in the white-ball cricket. Veteran cricket journalist Sambit Bal was impressed with Ravi Bishnoi who had changed the momentum of the Sunrisers’ batting inning, taking two big wickets in the same over. Bal said that a single over from Bishnoi could have made a difference of 30 runs but it was not to be for the Kings XI Punjab who could not rise to the occasion. He was also awestruck by the level of pure hitting skills on show by Nicholas Pooran and said that his hitting abilities are too good for any stadium, let alone the Sharjah where tiny sized boundaries make the average hitter of the ball look like a genuine six-hitter.

IPL 2020 | SRH vs KXIP: Bairstow, Rashid heroics eclipse Pooran blitz as Hyderabad wrestle third spot

Brief Scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 201/6 in 20 overs (Jonny Bairstow 97, David Warner 52; Ravi Bishnoi 3/29) beat Kings XI Punjab 132 all out in 16.5 overs (Nicholas Pooran 77, KL Rahul 11; Rashid Khan 3/12) by 69 runs. Sunrisers Hyderabad rode on a quintessential Jonny Bairstow (97) and David Warner (52) picnic at the top alongside Rashid Khan's 3/12 to skittle Kings XI Punjab by a whopping 69-run margin in the 22nd game of the Indian Premier League 2020 at the Dubai International Stadium. Plonking runs on the board and then relying on the bowling arsenal to do the job has always been SRH's go-to mantra. The cruel opening pair of Warner-Bairstow fulfilled the initial requirement in grand style, sharing a magnanimous 160 in what was a leather hunt for the ages. In response, Nicholas Pooran quarrelled a lone war for his six-studded 77 as KXIP choked to their fifth defeat on Thursday, 8 October at Dubai. Clinical SRH draw early inroads It was imperative that a secure foundation be laid by openers Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul to boost KXIP's prospects of accomplishing the uphill task. Though reality seldom matches the hype and expectations are generally followed by disappointment. Ascribe it to David Warner's electric fielding or the schoolboy error of ball-watching, Rahul committed to a second run before withdrawing at the last moment to sell Agarwal down the river. Fastracked up the pecking order with the license to kill, Prabhsimran Singh picked the bones out of Khaleel Ahmed's wide tempter only to nail it straight down cover point's lap. Abhishek Sharma floated a couple of gimmies bang into the arc as Nicholas Pooran meted him the deserved treatment, but anchor Rahul perishing to a top-edged sweep wasn't too bad a remuneration either for the budding left-arm. Pooran leaves no stone unturned in KXIP's riposte One minute silence for those who missed what transpired next. Pooran blitzed a gallery of range-hitting to strip 28 off Abdul Samad's 9th over, also wedging to a 17-ball fifty - the fastest in IPL 2020 - in the process. The pendulum had just briefly oscillated in KXIP's favour when livewire Priyam Garg conjured a direct hit to depart the struggling Glenn Maxwell. Rashid Khan then added insult to injury, castling Mandeep Singh with a foxy wrong'un to push SRH into the driver's seat. With 85 needed off 42 balls, Khaleel Ahmed nicked Mujeeb Ur Rahman behind in a comical episode of umpire verdicts and an eleventh-hour review. Running out of support big time, lone-ranger Pooran too bit the dust off Rashid as a flamboyant square-cut met backward point. There was no possibility in hell of the tail wagging against a champion of an attack, as SRH left the company of their bottom-dwelling counterparts to shift to where they hierarchically belong. Warner-Bairstow deliver a #throwback moment KXIP unleashed their trump cards in young Prabhsimran Singh, Arshdeep Singh and Mujeeb Ur Rahman at the expense of Chris Jordan, Harpreet Brar and Sarfaraz Ahmed in a bid to optimize the squad balance. Having blown hot and cold thus far in the season as a twin, normal services resumed for David Warner and Jonny Bairstow as SRH walloped to an unscathed 58 - their best Powerplay score of the ongoing edition. The solitary glitch during that breeze was the right-hander's timid loft, which eluded KL Rahul's goalkeeper dive at mid-off. Reprieved on a personal score of 19, Bairstow cleared the ropes at will henceforward to notch his fifty off 28 deliveries. He took a particular liking to Glenn Maxwell's part-time off-break and Ravi Bishnoi as the duo clinched their fifth 100-run partnership in IPL history. Bishnoi's temperament proves a silver lining Rahul shuffled the deckchairs in terms of bowling resources but the Warner-Bairstow juggernaut rode roughshod over anyone who obstructed its path. The massacre was verging on the genocide territory when a lion-hearted Bishnoi sent both openers packing to offer KXIP a huge sigh of relief. While the southpaw miscued a googly to long-on right after availing his half-century, Bairstow fell three short of a well-deserved hundred to a leg-before referral. Having ploughed for an overall tally of 35 overs to end their wicket drought, KXIP nabbed three in seven balls as Arshdeep guiled Manish Pandey into a feeble return chip. The wunderkind Bishnoi could've mugged another scalp had Nicholas Pooran at long-off not made a meal of Abdul Samad's flat thump. Nonetheless, Arshdeep's bucket hands ensured the leggie finally had Samad's number, concluding with prolific figures of 3/29 with an over left to spare. KXIP pull off an incredible heist, well almost... Pooran made amends for the shelled chance to remove Priyam Garg, but Kane Williamson joined forces with Abhishek Sharma to give SRH the psychological edge of breaching 200. However, that the orange brigade could only juice out 41 at the cost of 6 wickets in the last five overs after being 160 for zero at 15th's completion puts into perspective KXIP's jaw-dropping late retaliation. What's next in store? Kolkata Knight Riders must be rubbing their hands in glee as they await a battered and bruised Kings XI Punjab in the first of the weekend's double-header. Looking in fine fettle now, Sunrisers Hyderabad should be wary of the complacency factor in their rubber against Rajasthan Royals on 11 October, Sunday.