Momentum is the most crucial aspect of any team sport; teams with a winning momentum, feel ready for every match, and players are confident to take on any challenge while the fans are infused with a different kind of energy. That’s the case with Sunrisers Hyderabad, Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians in this season of the IPL.
SRH and KKR both played yesterday and the teams showed why they are at the top of the points table. Kolkata Knight Riders thrashed the Delhi Daredevils by 7 wickets in the first match of the day. Captain Gautam Gambhir and continued to lead from the front while scoring an unbeaten 71 to take his team home.
The Sunrisers Hyderabad batted first in the next match to post a total of 207/3 in 20 overs. Their bowlers bowled with their hearts on their sleeves to defend the total on a flat wicket and ended up doing that by 26 runs. Rashid Khan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were the stars of the day, with the former also getting the Man of the Match award.
Let us look at the leading run scorers and wicket takers after Kinds XI Punjab vs Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Leading run scorers
| Position | Player | Matches | Innings | Runs | Average | Strike Rate | 100s | 50s | Highest |
| 1 | Gautam Gambhir (KKR) | 9 | 9 | 376 | 62.67 | 136.73 | 0 | 4 | 76* |
| 2 | David Warner (SRH) | 8 | 8 | 333 | 55.5 | 135.92 | 0 | 3 | 76* |
| 3 | Robin Uthappa (KKR) | 9 | 8 | 331 | 41.38 | 168.02 | 0 | 4 | 87 |
| 4 | Shikhar Dhawan (SRH) | 8 | 8 | 312 | 39 | 126.32 | 0 | 2 | 77 |
| 5 | Suresh Raina (GL) | 8 | 8 | 309 | 61.8 | 141.74 | 0 | 2 | 84 |
| 6 | Hashim Amla (KXIP) | 7 | 7 | 299 | 59.8 | 145.85 | 1 | 2 | 104* |
| 7 | Sanju Samson (DD) | 7 | 7 | 284 | 40.57 | 145.64 | 1 | 1 | 102 |
| 8 | Steve Smith (RPS) | 7 | 7 | 275 | 55 | 135.47 | 0 | 2 | 84* |
| 9 | Brendon McCullum (SRH) | 8 | 8 | 267 | 33.38 | 145.9 | 0 | 2 | 72 |
| 10 | Nitish Rana (MI) | 8 | 8 | 266 | 38 | 135.03 | 0 | 3 | 62* |
Leading wicket takers
| Position | Player | Matches | Wickets | Overs | Runs | 5 Wickets | Economy | Best Figures |
| 1 | Bhuvneshwar Kumar (SRH) | 8 | 18 | 32 | 203 | 1 | 6.34 | 5 for 19 |
| 2 | Chris Morris (DD) | 7 | 12 | 25 | 191 | 0 | 7.64 | 4 for 26 |
| 3 | Mitchell McClenaghan (MI) | 8 | 12 | 32 | 279 | 0 | 8.72 | 3 for 24 |
| 4 | Andrew Tye (GL) | 5 | 12 | 20 | 132 | 1 | 6.6 | 5 for 17 |
| 5 | Nathan Coulter-Nile (KKR) | 4 | 11 | 14.2 | 118 | 0 | 8.23 | 3 for 21 |
| 6 | Rashid Khan (SRH) | 8 | 11 | 32 | 211 | 0 | 6.59 | 3 for 19 |
| 7 | Yuzvendra Chahal (RCB) | 8 | 10 | 26.3 | 188 | 0 | 7.09 | 3 for 16 |
| 8 | Chris Woakes (KKR) | 9 | 10 | 28 | 263 | 0 | 9.39 | 3 for 6 |
| 9 | Imran Tahir (RPS) | 8 | 10 | 31 | 264 | 0 | 8.52 | 3 for 28 |
| 10 | Umesh Yadav (KKR) | 7 | 9 | 23 | 211 | 0 | 9.17 | 4 for 33 |
Gautam Gambhir has overtaken Suresh Raina to claim the orange cap once again. He looks in great touch and has been excellent for the Kolkata Knight Riders so far. He hasn’t disappointed with the bat and he hasn’t disappointed on the field.
His decisions as a captain have struck gold more often than not and he looks like he wants to conquer his third IPL trophy with KKR this season. As always, he even declared that his Man of the Match prize money would go to CPRF jawans.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar doesn’t want to give up the purple cap. The four-wicket difference between him and the second-placed bowler has now increased to 6 wickets, thanks to the couple he scalped in his last game. The biggest batsmen of Kings XI Punjab were sent back to the shed by Kumar. It looks unlikely that anyone else will overtake Kumar’s tally with his current form!
Let us take a look at the points table now:
| Position | Team | Played | Won | Lost | No result | Net Run Rate | Points | Last Result | Next Opponent |
| 1 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1.223 | 14 | Beat DD by 7 wickets | SRH |
| 2 | Mumbai Indians | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0.514 | 12 | Lost to RPS by 3 runs | GL |
| 3 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0.588 | 11 | Beat KXIP by 26 runs | KKR |
| 4 | Rising Pune Supergiant | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | -0.666 | 8 | Lost to KKR by 6 wickets | RCB |
| 5 | Gujarat Lions | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | -0.36 | 6 | Beat RCB by 7 wickets | MI |
| 6 | Kings XI Punjab | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | -0.448 | 6 | Lost to SRH by 26 wickets | DD |
| 7 | Royal Challengers Bangalore | 9 | 2 | 6 | 1 | -1.401 | 5 | Lost to GL by 7 wickets | RPS |
| 8 | Delhi Daredevils | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0.514 | 4 | Lost to KKR by 7 wickets | SRH |
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