KL Rahul’s Kings XI Punjab pulled off an improbable victory in IPL 2020. They scripted yet another incredible comeback this season and edged past Sunirsers Hyderabad.
Chasing a total of mere 127, SRH was in cruise control of the match after the first power play. The explosive duo of David Warner and Johnny Bairstow started with a bang. At one stage it seemed that SRH will win a once sided match.
Kings XI Punjab Win Against Sunrisers Hyderabad
Then wickets of both Warner and Bairstow fell in quick successions and the match turned on its head. In the middle phase, Manish Pandey and Vijay Shankar just couldn’t get going and grappled to score runs.
As a result, the run rate kept climbing but still it was SRH’s game to lose. Then the unthinkable happened as SRH lost a flurry of wickets and the game just kept drifting away from them.
It was splendid captaincy from KL Rahul who was backed by his bowlers on the night. In the middle overs, it was the spin duo of Ashwin and Ravi Bishnoi who didn’t give away an inch. In the death overs, Chris Jordan and Arshdeep Singh were outstanding as KXIP clinched an unlikely win.
We Are Really Happy The Wins Are Coming- KL Rahul
In the end, SRH fell short by 12 runs and KXIP completed a truly extraordinary turnaround. Earlier in the match, KXIP had just posted a total of 126 as they too struggled on the Dubai pitch.
However, they once fought till the very end and still keep their hopes alive for qualifying for IPL 2020 playoffs. Here’s what the winning captain KL Rahul said in the post-match presentation.
“We are making it a habit. Winning is a habit, which we didn’t find in the first half. Honestly, I’m speechless. Everybody’s chipped in. Low-scoring games are when you realise the importance of those 10-15 runs scored by batsmen, those diving stops and those tight overs. The work done is always behind the scenes. Not just the players but the support team. You can’t change a lot in tow months but all these guys have pushed the boys to be better and better”.
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“Even when we were sitting on the bottom of the table we didn’t panic. We kept scrapping and we’re really happy that the wins are coming. I think after I and Mandeep played the first over itself we knew it wasn’t going to be a high-scoring pitch. We were thinking 160-170. The openers have the freedom to score and I think that’s what happened with SRH as well. I was hoping we didn’t give anything above 40 in the first six, so I was positive and the team was positive”, said KL Rahul.
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