IPL 2018, SRH vs KXIP: 5 talking points

Sunrisers Hyderabad scripted a huge upset by beating Kings XI Punjab by 13 runs at Hyderabad. In a low scoring encounter, SRH were restricted to 132/6 thanks to a sensational spell of 5/14 by Ankit Rajpoot who took the first 5-wicket haul of the competition.

In reply, KXIP were off to a brilliant start as openers KL Rahul and Chris Gayle added 55 runs before being dismissed in quick succession. Their dismissals triggered a massive downfall in KXIP's batting as the middle-order batsmen were sent back quickly by the SRH bowlers. Punjab eventually fell short of the target by 13 runs.

The win saw SRH rise up to second in the standings while KXIP slipped to 3rd. Let's take a look at five talking points of the match.

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#5 Lack of T20 prowess shown by the SRH middle order tonight

The 11-crore priced batsman played a rather patient innings

After losing their first three batsmen in quick succession, one would generally expect the other batsmen to patiently settle down and then elevate the scoring-rate. The remainder of the SRH batting did settle down but they did not show much aggressive intent during the innings.

Manish Pandey and Shakib Al Hasan added 52 runs for the fourth wicket but it came from 53 deliveries. Pandey went on to score 54 but from 51 deliveries and Shakib scored 28 from 29 deliveries. Even Yusuf Pathan scored 21 from 19 balls. These aren't numbers one expects from three batsmen who have a fine T20 batting record, one of them scoring one of the fastest fifties in IPL.

SRH came through because of their bowling, and a batting display like this against the likes of KKR or CSK will make it hard for them to get a defendable total.

#4 KXIP's sloppy fielding

Ashwin dropped a simple chance early in the SRH innings which would have made a major difference in the game

If there was one thing that the KXIP batting bettered, then it was their own fielding. The way the Punjab fielders dropped catches, it seemed like SRH were given the opportunity to score 132.

A total of four catches were dropped and three of those drops came when Manish Pandey was batting. During the fourth over, Pandey decided to lift a good length delivery from Barinder Sran over mid-on and Ravichandran Ashwin reached out but fumbled what should have been a routine catch. Pandey was batting at just 4 at the time.

The next drop came in the very next over when Andrew Tye failed to hold on to a sitter which came towards him while Pandey poorly pulled an Ankit Rajpoot delivery. Tye had taken a catch in just the previous delivery to dismiss Wriddhiman Saha.

Pandey was given a third life in the 17th over when he tried to hurl a slow, length delivery by Andrew Tye over midwicket. The ball went towards Mayank Agarwal who dropped it.

A fourth drop catch came during the 18th over when Manoj Tiwary dropped Yusuf Pathan at deep midwicket and the ball went over the fence for a six.

Had any of the first two drops been taken, then Manish Pandey wouldn't have been able to reach double figures. That's 45-50 runs right there. If it wasn't for KXIP's drops, then Sunrisers might not have been able to even score 100-110 on the board.

These dropped chances resulted in KXIP losing their match, and if their fielders are not alert, then Punjab would have immense problems as the tournament progresses.

#3 The KXIP middle-order was dismal

Karun Nair and the other KXIP middle-order batsmen will have to perform better in the upcoming matches

KXIP have five wins in the tournament so far but in almost 4 of those 5 wins, their top order has been the reason behind the powerful totals posted. The likes of Chris Gayle and KL Rahul played brilliantly but what about the middle order?

Barring Karun Nair and Mayank Agarwal, on a few occasions, none of KXIP's middle-order has been able to tick. The likes of Yuvraj Singh, Aaron Finch and David Miller have been lacklustre.

Against SRH, Punjab's openers were dismissed early and the middle order hardly did anything. Finch, Manoj Tiwary, even Ashwin were dismissed cheaply. Even Karun Nair or Mayank Agarwal could add much. The final 8 wickets for KXIP fell for just 62 runs.

So far, more than 47% of KXIP's total runs in the tournament have been scored by Chris Gayle and KL Rahul. There will certainly come occasions when these two may not click. During those moments, if the middle-order doesn't click then KXIP are bound to be in trouble.

#2 Ankit Rajpoot's terrific spell

Rajpoot bowled the best spell of the tournament so far

The biggest positive for KXIP was the terrific spell by Ankit Rajpoot. Rajpoot bowled a pretty economical spell of 2/23 against Delhi Daredevils a few days back which got him the Man of the Match award.

Today, Rajpoot was simply phenomenal. He began his rampage from the very first over, getting the crucial wicket of Kane Williamson. He followed this by getting another important wicket, that of Shikhar Dhawan.

The 24-year old intensified the pressure on the SRH batting by dismissing Wriddhiman Saha. Rajpoot was not called on until the final over. During the final over, he bowled Manish Pandey before sending back Mohammad Nabi in the final to pick up the first five-wicket haul of the tournament and only the 18th fifer in IPL history.

Rajpoot ended with figures of 5/14 from his four overs. His spell is the best spell in KXIP's history, bettering Dimitri Mascarenhas's 5/25 against Pune Warriors India in 2012.

KXIP lost the match but the quality and quantity of Rajpoot's spell was substantial enough to give him the Man of the Match award.

#1 Consistency of the SRH bowlers

Rashid Khan and his fellow SRH bowlers were simply magnificent

SRH were once again without their talisman Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and needed to defend a below-par total. To make things more difficult, they were also up against two of the most lethal openers of the tournament so far.

However, the SRH bowlers were up to the task as they calmly dismissed the KXIP openers before tearing their middle-order apart. Barring Mohammad Nabi, all the Hyderabad bowlers were nothing short of outstanding. Sandeep Sharma, Basil Thampi, Rashid Khan and Shakib al Hasan, all bagged wickets with Khan being the pick of them, bowling a spell of 3/19.

Siddarth Kaul went wicketless but he bowled a pretty economical spell of 0/25 from his four overs. They were able to defend two back-to-back below-par totals on good batting turfs.

Hence, one thing is for sure and that is, if the SRH batsmen do not deliver, their bowlers definitely will.