IPL 2018, SRH vs KXIP: 5 unnoticed things of the match

Today’s match was billed as the contest between Punjab’s mighty batting and Sunrisers’ brilliant bowling and it turned out to be a thriller. Ashwin won the toss and inserted the opposition in to bat.

Sunrisers got off to a bad start as they lost 3 top order wickets for just 27 runs on the board. Hyderabad could not recover from such a poor start and failed to get any momentum going for them.

Eventually, the Sunrisers stumbled to a below-par score of 132 in their allotted overs. In reply, Punjab got off to a steady start but lost a flurry of wickets in the middle overs, courtesy some brilliant bowling from their trump card Rashid Khan.

In the end, Punjab lost the contest by 13 runs. Sportskeeda takes a look at 5 things that might have been missed by the fans in today’s match.

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#1 Williamson’s first duck in the IPL

It is no secret that Sunrisers have a weak batting line up and are heavily dependent on Williamson and Dhawan. Kane Williamson has been in fine form this IPL season. He has led from the front with the bat.

However, Williamson had a forgettable day with the bat as he miscued a pull shot and could only manage to give the simplest of catches to Ashwin at mid off. This turned out to be the first time that Williamson departed without bothering the scorers.

SRH’s fans would be hoping this would be the first and the last time their skipper departs for a duck in this IPL.

#2 Three Afghans playing for the first time in IPL

Afghanistan has been rising steadily in the cricketing world. Their cricketers have been doing very well in T20 leagues around the world. The likes of Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi are match winners for their respective franchises in the big bash league and the PSL respectively. Now, they have been joined by the teenager Mujeeb Ur Rehman.

Mujeeb has been absolutely sensational ever since making his debut for Punjab. In fact, today was the first time that 3 cricketers from Afghanistan played for the first time in IPL. This just goes to show that our beautiful game is becoming truly global.

#3 First ever five-wicket haul for any Punjab bowler

Ankit Rajpoot delivered a man of the match performance in the last match against Delhi Daredevils. The tall fast bowler started off from where he had left off in the last match, striking 3 crucial blows at the top to diminish any chances of Sunrisers posting a big score on the board.

He got the big wickets of Dhawan and Williamson, surprising both of them with his bounce. Ankit came back at the end to bowl an excellent last over and picked up 2 more wickets. This was the first ever five-wicket haul for any Punjab bowler in the history of IPL and was richly deserved.

#4 Fourth consecutive fifty stand between Rahul and Gayle

Both K.L Rahul and Chris Gayle have been in cracking form this season. The righty-lefty combo has worked wonders for Punjab. The duo added 96 runs against Chennai in their first innings together. This was followed by a stand of 53 runs against the Sunrisers. In the next game, they accumulated a massive 116 runs at the top against KKR.

Today as well the duo put on a steady 55 runs at the top. Punjab have a brittle middle order and are highly dependent on their openers. Until now, the openers have passed the test with flying colours.

#5 Rashid Khan’s excellent accuracy

Rashid Khan has emerged as one of the top bowlers in IPL over the last 2 years. His highly accurate wicket to wicket line has fetched a large number of wickets in the past. Today as well, he knocked over the stumps of the impressive K L Rahul and trapped Karun Nair right in front of the wickets.

In fact, out of the total 26 wickets he has got in IPL, an astounding 18 wickets are bowled or lbw. This just goes to show how accurate he is with the ball.