Hyderabad: Leading from the front, skipper David Warner struck a decent knock, while his bowlers bowled economically, picking up wickets at regular intervals to beat Kings XI Punjab by 5 runs in their Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium yesterday.
With the win, Sunrisers move two places up the points table from fifth position to third with 14 points from 12 games, having won seven and lost five, whereas Kings XI stayed at the bottom of the table struggling with just four points from 12 games.
Opting to bat first, Warner top-scored with a 52-ball 81, hitting six boundaries and five sixes to lift Sunrisers to a modest 185/5. In reply, despite a late cameo by David Miller (89 not out off 44 balls), the visitors fell short by just 5 runs, thereby ending their innings at 180/7 in 20 overs.
For the home side, Moises Henriques (3/16) and Bipul Sharma (2/13) were the pick of the bowlers.
Chasing a challenging 186-run target, Kings XI got off to a good start scoring 37 off the first four overs, but lost opener Murali Vijay (24) in the very next over. Shikhar Dhawan held on to a smart, low catch off the bowling off spinner Bipul Sharma.
His opening partner Manan Vohra (20) also got out trying to up the scoring rate. Incoming batsman Glenn Maxwell continued his poor run in IPL 2015, scoring just 11 off six deliveries, before being caught behind off the bowling of Trent Boult.
But Miller had other plans in mind. Right from the word go, his positive approach was reflected in his bat. Scoring freely against both pacers and spinners helped team score 100 in the 15th over.
But with wickets falling at the other end it, the South African was running out of partners. George Bailey (6), Gurkeerat Singh (3), Axar Patel (15) all fell one after the other.
Earlier in the innings, Sunrisers got off to a flying start with openers Warner and Shikhar Dhawan scoring 56 off first six overs.
But a bowling change by Kings XI captain George Bailey worked wonders for the visitors, as spinner Glenn Maxwell broke the opening stand in his very first ball of the seventh over
A clever Maxwell looped the ball up outside off seeing Dhawan stepping out of the crease. The batsman was beaten in flight and wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha made no mistake whipping the bails off in a flash.
The wicket did not bother Warner as he kept on scoring freely, thus bringing up his half-century in just 36 balls.
He was well supported in the other end by incoming batsman Moises Henriques (28). The duo struck the ball to all parts of the ground and also sneaked in quick singles and twos to help the team reach 100 in the 13th over.
But Henriques had to return back to the pavilion in the very next over as he was caught off the bowling off Gurkeerat Singh.
Eoin Morgan (17) and Naman Ojha (2) also did not last long. For Kings XI, Beuran Hendricks (2/40) was the pick of the bowlers.