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Sunrisers Hyderabad made regular strikes with the ball as Punjab Kings could manage only a meagre 125/7 in 20 overs here on Saturday. On a pitch that aided slower deliveries, Hyderabad took full advantage of it and kept Punjab on a tight leash throughout the innings.
Sent in to bat first, Punjab didn't get the best of the starts with only 26 runs scored in four overs. KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal struggled to time the ball. Bhuvneshwar Kumar threatened Rahul's outside edge but with no success as Rahul got away with streaky boundaries. Rahul's sluggish stay at the crease came to an end when he flicked straight to mid-wicket off Jason Holder's first ball of the match in the fifth over. On the fifth ball, Holder had his second wicket as Agarwal chipped a drive straight to mid-off. Chris Gayle's quiet time at the crease ended with Rashid Khan getting one to turn in, trapping him lbw in the eleventh over. Nicholas Pooran slammed Sandeep Sharma for a six over deep mid-wicket. But Sharma's slower delivery next up saw Pooran getting into the hoick early and went straight back to the bowler off the toe-end of the bat, grabbing the catch on second attempt. Aiden Markram, dropped on three, was a lone ranger for Punjab till he holed out to long-off on a juicy full toss from Abdul Samad in the 15th over. Holder had his third wicket of the day when Deepak Hooda's loft was snapped by substitute fielder J Suchith flying to his left to complete a stunning one-handed catch at cover. Debutant Nathan Ellis smacked Kumar for a six on the first ball of the final over. Kumar had his revenge on the next as Ellis sliced to third man before a boundary from Harpreet Brar took Punjab past 120. Brief Scores: Punjab Kings 125/7 in 20 overs (Aiden Markram 27, KL Rahul 21, Jason Holder 3/19, Abdul Samad 1/9) against Sunrisers Hyderabad. --IANS nr/bsk ( 340 Words) 2021-09-25-21:26:03 (IANS)
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