IPL 2017, Gujarat Lions vs Sunrisers Hyderabad: GL’s epic collapse is SK Play of the Day

The Sunrisers Hyderabad confirmed their place in the play-offs with a comprehensive 8-wicket victory over the Gujarat Lions at the Green Park in Kanpur. David Warner (69*) and Vijay Shankar(63*) led the Sunrisers’ run chase with a superb 133-run partnership for the third wicket.

Batting first, Gujarat lost their way after a superb start from their openers and bundled out for only 154 runs. Once on a score of 111-0, Gujarat went on to lose 10 wickets for just 43 runs in a space of 51 balls.

This was the worst batting collapse in IPL history so far; the next two being RCB’s 49 all out in this edition and KKR’s 67 all-out in 2008 when they lost 10 wickets in a space of 51 runs.

Click here to watch the epic collapse.

All the Sunrisers’ bowlers, except Nabi and Henriques, found themselves among the wickets. Youngster Mohammad Siraj was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4-32 in his four overs. Rashid Khan was the next best, ending up with impressive figures of 3-34 and Bhuvneshwar Kumar also continued with his wicket-taking spree, claiming 2-25 in 3.2 overs.

And last, but not the least, Siddharth Kaul also chipped in with a wicket.

It all started in the 11^th over of the Gujarat Lions’ innings when Rashid Khan trapped Dwayne Smith plumb in front of the wickets. Smith had already made his way to a cautious yet aggressive 54(33) by then. However, he fell to a slider from the canny leg spinner as he attempted a short arm pull only to miss it completely.

Youngster Mohammad Siraj was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4-32

However, it was the period between the 13^th and the 14^th over that turned everything upside down for the Lions. Mohammad Siraj and Rashid Khan dented the Lions with double strikes, each in back to back overs, to reduce them to 123-5 from a commanding position of 120-1.

It was Siraj who first dismissed Ishan Kishan(61) and Suresh Raina(2) on the fourth and the sixth deliveries of the 13^th over respectively. Kishan top edged a good length delivery from the Hyderabad bowler while going for a big shot and only ended up giving away a simple catch to wicket-keeper Naman Ojha.

Raina was the next to follow on the last ball of the over as he was caught at deep square leg while trying to clear the ropes.

Rashid Khan then followed it up with another double strike in the very next over as he dismissed Dinesh Karthik(0) and Aaron Finch(2). Karthik mistimed a full toss from Rashid and gave away a simple catch to Deepak Hooda at deep mid-wicket and then it was Finch who perished on the last ball of the over while attempting a slog sweep.

It seemed to be Siraj’s day today as he hurt the Lions with a double strike again in the 17^th over. He cleaned up both James Faulkner and Pradeep Sangwan off back-to-back deliveries and brought an end to a superb spell of 4-32.

After Siraj, it was Siddharth Kaul who cleaned up Ankit Soni and then it was Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the purple cap holder, who dismissed the two remaining batsmen. Kumar brought a perfect ending to a superb bowling performance from the Sunrisers and consequently a horrible batting performance from the Gujarat batsmen.