Mohali, near the foothills of the Himalayas, is a long way from any Ashes venue, literally and metaphorically, but cricket’s oldest rivalry erupted when Punjab Kings hosted Sunrisers Hyderabad in the northern Indian city.
Australia and Sunrisers captain Pat Cummins proved to be a key figure, removing both of Punjab’s English batsmen as the visitors won the Indian Premier League match by two runs.
Opening the innings as the Sunrisers defended a total of 9 for 182, Cummins struck in his first over to take the key wicket of Jonny Bairstow to duck as the Englishman found nothing but air as he attempted to edge Cummins down the side. leg.
When another Englishman, Sam Curran, later threatened to tip the match in Kings’ favor, Cummins intervened again.
Resolving the Kings’ innings after three wickets fell in the first five overs, Curran attempted to smash T Natarajan through the line but cut it to left-arm mid-on, where Cummins took a brilliant catch, leaping back with the flight and pocketing the ball well above his head to dismiss Curran for 29 off 22.
It looked like the game was over but Shashank Singh (46 off 25) and Ashutosh Sharma (33 off 15) added an unbeaten 66 off 27 balls for the seventh wicket to take it all the way.
The Kings needed 29 off the last over and three missed catches, two of which were over the rope for six, another six and three open meant they fell agonizingly short, finishing with 6 for 180. When victory was secured, Captain Cummins smiled wryly. smile of relief.
Both teams came into the match with a 2-2 win-loss record, and needed a win to maintain their progress into the four play-off places, with the Sunrisers taking fifth place.
Put into bat, Travis Head should have been dismissed on the first ball, but the umpire failed to notice that the Australian had sent Kagiso Rabada to wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma and Bairstow, in a slip, could not persuade captain Shikhar Dhawan to to review.
Head then cut Rabada off Bairstow for four and, in the next over, found the boundary again from an inside edge.
It looked like he would ride his luck to score big but, aiming to knock Arshdeep Singh (4 off 29) out of the park, Dhawan caught him off a skier.
After that, the innings belonged to Nitesh Reddy, 20 years old and in just his second match, who became the latest young Indian batsman to make a mark in this tournament with a 37-ball 64 that included hooking Rabada for six .
“He was unbelievable,” Cummins said of the player of the match, who also took the final wicket of the match.
“Fantastic in the field, he also bowled three overs. To take us to 180 with his bat. It was incredible.”
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AAP