IPL 2018, SRH vs KXIP: 5 talking points

#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.