Rahul Tripathi hit a match-winning half-century and stored the house followers on their ft as Sunrisers Hyderabad registered its first win of the IPL 2023 season, defeating Punjab Kings by eight wickets on the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Sunday.
Chasing 144 runs, Tripathi shouldered accountability and scored an excellent half-century in 36 balls – his first of the season and eleventh total within the IPL. The batter completed unbeaten on 74 off 48 balls, laced with 10 boundaries and three sixes.
Tripathi was free-flowing with the willow, enjoying to the advantage of the ball and punishing the bowlers after they erred in size. Batting with a barely wider stance, Tripathi bided time and adjusted to the tempo and bounce of the wicket earlier than breaking free. Tripathi additionally used his ft effectively towards the spinners, using the sweep shot to perfection.
SRH tinkered with its batting line-up as soon as once more, this time by selling Harry Brook to open the innings. Brook and Mayank Agarwal supplied a sedate begin earlier than Arshdeep Singh offered the breakthrough by castling the Englishman with a knuckleball. Brook had discovered a liking to the tempo of Punjab bowlers by hitting three boundaries.
Agarwal was handed a life whereas batting on 14 as wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma dropped the opener, however that didn’t damage Punjab as Rahul Chahar ended the opener’s scratchy keep on the wicket. Skipper Aiden Markram then joined palms with Tripathi because the duo cast an unbeaten 100-run stand in 52 deliveries at hand Punjab its first lack of the season.
Earlier, Shikhar Dhawan hit an excellent unbeaten 99 off 66 deliveries as Punjab recovered from a batting collapse to publish 143 for the lack of 9 wickets.
Dhawan stitched essential partnerships with Sam Curran and Mohit Rathee because the Sunrisers’ bowlers erred on the demise and didn’t bowl out Punjab. Dhawan, together with Mohit, racked up a report 55 runs for the final wicket to assist Punjab make a aggressive complete. The Punjab skipper’s knock comprised 12 boundaries and 5 sixes as he scored his forty ninth IPL half-century.
While Dhawan stood tall with a stellar knock, it was a procession of types as Marco Jansen and Bhuvneshwar Kumar made early inroads after the Sunrisers gained the toss and opted to bowl.
The wickets stored falling as Sunrisers attacked by using spin, with Mayank Markande selecting a four-wicket haul and registering figures of 4-0-15-4.
Dhawan grew to become the fourth batter in IPL historical past to stay unbeaten on 99 and snatched the Orange cap from Ruturaj Gaikwad. However, the night time belonged to a blinding Tripathi, who helped Sunrisers snap the dropping streak.
Source: sportstar.thehindu.com