Hyderabad ended their their three-match losing streak, after their big win against Punjab Kings in Chennai. The Kings lost KL Rahul early and had a quiet powerplay. Kept losing wickets at regular wickets post that and ended up getting skittled out for 120, a meagre total even at Chepauk. Chasing a low total, the explosive duo of Bairstow and Warner came out all guns blazing and raced to 50 in the powerplay. The introduction of spinners led to Warner's downfall and also a decline in the scoring rate, but they were always ahead of the curve. Williamson and YJB played risk-free cricket and took their team over the line with eight balls to spare. The unbeaten 48-run stand comprised just one four and one six. Punjab descend to eighth position with this defeat.
Earlier, Khaleel Ahmed (3/21) and Abhishek Sharma (2/24) stole the show as Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) put in a clinical bowling display. Chris Gayle and Mayank Agarwal then looked to stitch a partnership but Khaleel Ahmed ended Mayank's stay in the seventh over. It triggered a middle-order collapse as Punjab Kings lost two more wickets in the next 10 balls. While Nicholas Pooran didn't bother the scorers and got a diamond duck, Gayle scored 15 off 17 balls. Deepak Hooda and Moises Henriques tried to revive Punjab's innings, but without much success as Abhishek sent them back to see Punjab lose six wickets with just 82 runs on board. Shahrukh did manage to take Punjab past the 100-run mark, but the right-handed batsman wasn't able to convert it into the big one. Khaleel removed Shahrukh off the first ball of the 18th over to deny the Punjab Kings any chance of finishing the innings on a high. In the final two overs, Punjab Kings picked 10 runs to give SRH a 121-run target.
