(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Punjab Kings kept their playoff hopes alive with a narrow five-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in a low-scoring Indian Premier League (IPL) thriller at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Saturday night.
The eighth defeat in the campaign ended the bottom-placed Hyderabad's play-off hopes.
Ravi Bishnoi scalped three wickets, while Mohammed Shami returned with two wickets for Punjab.
Wriddhiman Saha (31) and Jason Holder (47 not out) did put up a fight, but their efforts were not enough to rescue Hyderabad.
Punjab just about scraped together enough with the bat to post 125, and then with the ball in hand, they got the job done. For SRH, Holder did brilliantly with both bat and ball but they came up short.
Chasing 126, Sunrisers Hyderabad had a very troublesome start as Shami removed captain Kane Williamson and star opener David Warner in his first two overs.
SRH finished with 20 for two after six overs with Manish Pandey and Saha at the crease as they managed to score just one boundary in the powerplay.
Bishnoi gave Punjab the breakthrough in the eighth over after he sent Pandey (13) back to the pavilion. With boundaries in scarcity, Hyderabad's score read just 43-3 after 10 overs as the required run rate went past eight.
The 12th over was a bit of a relief for Hyderabad as they got nine runs but Punjab pegged them back in the next over as Bishnoi struck again to dismiss Kedar Jadhav for 12. Bishnoi also removed Abdul Samad in the same over.
Holder, who came into bat at No.7, took matters into his own hands as, after scoring a six off Bishnoi in the 15th over, the big West Indian smashed two more sixes in Nathan Ellis' over to gather 16 runs in the 16th over.
Unfortunately, Saha was run out after a horrible mix-up off the first ball after the strategic timeout. He walked back after scoring a gutsy 31 off 37 balls.
With 21 needed from 12, it was still anybody's game. Arshdeep Singh then shifted the momentum towards Punjab after dismissing Rashid Khan off the very first ball of the penultimate over. Arshdeep gave just four runs in that over.
The match came down to the last over bowled by Ellis, but the Australian held his nerves to take Punjab across the finish line.
Earlier, Holder starred with the ball as Hyderabad restricted Punjab to 125-7. Holder scalped three wickets conceding just 19 runs in four overs. Rashid Khan, Samad, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Sandeep Sharma returned with one wicket each. For Punjab, Aiden Markram and skipper KL Rahul scored 27 and 21 respectively.
Punjab had a horror start as they lost both their openers inside the powerplay. Bowling his first over, Holder removed KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal in the fifth over of the innings. Rahul went back after scoring 21 off 21 balls, while Mayank managed just five.
After the first six overs, Punjab's score read 29-2 as Markram and Chris Gayle tried to stabilise the innings. With a couple of boundary-less overs, Punjab moved to 55-2 after 10 overs.
Rashid Khan proved lethal with his spin as he gave Hyderabad a crucial breakthrough in the 11th over, having Gayle leg before.
In the very next over, Nicholas Pooran walked back to the pavilion after hitting the first six of the night, with Sandeep Sharma taking the return catch.
Markram (27 off 32 balls) was sent back by Abdul Samad in the 15th over. Soon, Deepak Hooda (13) joined Markram in the dressing room, as Holder got his third wicket of the match. — ANI
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