Sunrisers Hyderabad cannot reach the IPL knockout stages after suffering a five-run defeat to Punjab Kings in Sharjah; Punjab posted 125-7 with Sunrisers only able to muster 120-7 in reply; Jason Holder's 3-19 and 47no from 29 balls in vain for Sunrisers
Saturday 25 September 2021 20:01, UK
Sunrisers Hyderabad's hopes of reaching the Indian Premier League play-offs are over after a five-run defeat to Punjab Kings with Jason Holder's all-round excellence proving in vain.
The Kings edged a low-scoring contest as they defended their 125-7 thanks to some superb bowling up front from Mohammed Shami with Ravi Bishnoi doing the damage in the middle overs to leave Sunrisers too much to do late on.
Having taken his IPL-best figures of 3-19 with the ball, West Indies star Holder came in with his side 60-5 and proceeded to smash an unbeaten 47 from 29 balls, including five sixes, but came up just short as Nathan Ellis defended 17 from the last over.
The win keeps the Kings firmly in the race for the knockout phase as they move level on points with fourth-placed Kolkata Knight Riders, albeit having played a game more.
Having won the toss and asked Punjab to bat, Sunrisers had to wait until the introduction of Holder in the fifth over to make the breakthrough as the seamer accounted for KL Rahul with his first ball and added the scalp of Mayank Agarwal with his fifth to put some pressure on the Kings.
The recalled Chris Gayle was in at No 3 and alongside Aiden Markram tried to build a platform for Punjab but scoring was proving tough and by the time Gayle was trapped lbw by Rashid in the 11th over, the Kings were three down with only 57 on the board.
Nicholas Pooran tried to inject to urgency but was caught and bowled in the next over having hit the previous ball from Sandeep Sharma for six and after Markram (27) fell to Abdul Samad, Holder returned to claim his third, Deepak Hooda dismissed courtesy of a stunning one-handed catch at cover from substitute fielder Jagadeesha Suchith.
Harpreet Brar (18no) and Ellis (12) added some crucial runs late on for Punjab but Sunrisers would still have been confident of chasing down such a modest total.
The Kings soon showed them that that would be far from straightforward though as Shami (2-14) had David Warner (2) caught behind third ball and then bowled Sunrisers skipper Kane Williamson (1) in his next over.
That left Hyderabad 10-2 which became 32-3 after eight overs when Bishnoi produced a beautiful googly to bowl Manish Pandey (13) and with scoring proving so tricky, the IPL's bottom side already looked up against it.
By the time Bishnoi (3-24) got rid of Kedar Jadhav (12) and Samad (1) in the 13th over, the game looked done but Holder was not going to give up so easily.
Opener Wriddihiman Saha (31) was still out there when he got to the crease but it really was a lone hand from Holder, who scored 47 of the 60 runs Sunrisers managed after he came out to bat.
Holder picked his moments well, signalling the start of the final push with back-to-back sixes off Ellis (0-32) and the wickets of Saha and Rashid (3) were almost incidental as he tried to drag his side over the line.
It came down to 17 off the last and when Ellis' second ball disappeared over long on, it all looked set up for Holder to take the glory with 10 needed from four balls.
The Australian quick kept his cool though, Holder unable to get after the next two and turning down the singles on offer and, when left needing six off the last to force a Super Over, Holder could not get the connection he wanted on a low full toss and Punjab could celebrate with their 125 becoming the lowest IPL score defended at Sharjah.
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