Left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar and pacer Nathan Ellis took three wickets each as Punjab Kings restricted Sunrisers Hyderabad to 157/8 in 20 overs in the final league match of IPL 2022 at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.
For Hyderabad, who were in trouble at 96/5, Washington Sundar and Romario Shepherd produced late fireworks to take 58 runs off the last four overs to give a big boost to the total.
Electing to bat first on a sticky pitch, Hyderabad had a sedate start, getting nine runs in the first two overs. Punjab drew first blood when Priyam Garg tried to flick too early against a cross-seam delivery on pads from Kagiso Rabada and the leading-edge was caught by mid-off.
Rahul Tripathi joined forces with Abhishek Sharma to stitch a 47-run stand off 35 balls, including the former being dropped by pacer Nathan Ellis off his own bowling. But Brar, in his first over, ended the partnership by having Tripathi sweep a down leg delivery straight into the hands of short fine leg.
Brar returned in his second over to take out Abhishek Sharma, who tried to loft over long-on. But the left-hander never got the elevation and Liam Livingstone jumped in the air to take the catch with both hands just inside the advertising rope.
Punjab continued to dent Hyderabad's innings as Nicholas Pooran nicked straight off an across-going delivery to wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma off Ellis. Brar picked up his third wicket of the night by using turn and bounce to get Aiden Markram forward and Sharma from behind whipped the bails when the right-hander's backfoot strayed out of the crease.
From 96/5 in 14.4 overs, Hyderabad were able to cross the 150-mark, thanks to the 58-run stand off 29 balls between Sundar and Shepherd. After starting cautiously against Arshdeep, the duo took 43 runs off overs 17, 18, and 19, hitting eight boundaries between themselves, including a scoop from Sundar off Rabada, to give Hyderabad a respectable score despite losing two wickets (Sundar and J. Suchith) in the final over.
Brief scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 157/8 in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 43, Romario Shepherd 26 not out; Nathan Ellis 3/41, Harpreet Brar 3/26) against Punjab Kings