For their fifth match of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2024) season, Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad traveled to Mullanpur Stadium. Both teams started with the same lineups that had won their previous games, with Shikhar Dhawan winning the toss and opting to bowl first.
Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head both went down early, ending their scorching exploits. Nitish Reddy, a young player, seized the opportunity to make his first IPL half-century. With four boundaries and five sixes, the right-handed batsman scored 64 runs off just 37 balls.
With 4/29 from his four overs, Arshdeep Singh was PBKS’s best bowler. As SRH scored 182/9, Kagiso Rabada could only take one wicket, while Harshal Patel and Sam Curran both claimed two wickets.
Overs 0.1 to 6 and Mandatory (27/3) Powerplay
Punjab Kings lost three wickets early in their chase of 183 to win. Jonny Bairstow was big wicket taken by Pat Cummins. Next, Bhuvneshwar Kumar acquired Prabhsimran Singh and Shikhar Dhawan.
First Strategic Time-out for the Punjab Kings (49/3 from 8 overs)
The loss of three early wickets had weakened the Punjab Kings team. However, Sam Curran and Sikandar Raza came out swinging as they used the few boundaries to counterattack.
50 runs in 8.2 overs for Punjab Kings
The 50 runs for PBKS came up at precisely six runs per over following the initial time-out. The home team had seven wickets in the bank and needed to score 133 runs from 70 balls at that point.
Stat Alert: T20 cricketer Sam Curran scores three thousand runs
During his 29-run innings against SRH, English all-round sensation Sam Curran achieved a significant milestone. Pat Cummins made a fantastic grab to save the left-handed hitter from reaching 3000 T20 runs before falling to T Natarajan.
Also read: IPL 2024: Nitish Reddy: Who Is He? All the Information You Need to Know About the Young Batting Superstar of SRH
Punjab Kings: 91/4 after 13 overs during the second strategic time-out
The home team suffered a severe blow when Sam Curran was lost in the tenth over of play. Shashank Singh joined Sikandar Raza, the Zimbabwean celebrity, to hit some crisp shots to instill faith in PBKS.
100 runs in 14.2 overs for the Punjab Kings
PBKS lost their fifth wicket in the first ball following the second time-out. Jaydev Unadkat witnessed the Zimbabwean batter attempt to scoop the ball, only for Heinrich Klaasen to catch him.
Punjab Kings: 184 Overs, 150 Runs
Ashutosh Sharma and Shashank Singh, two of the game’s protagonists, played a couple powerful shots. This offered the home team some optimism as they attempted to reach the 183-run goal.
Final Score IPL 2024: Punjab Kings: 180/6 after 20 overs
With just six balls remaining, Ashutosh Sharma blasted Jaydev Unadkat for a six from the first ball. There were two wide balls from the next two balls. After both of his sixes were parried over the ropes, Ashutosh smacked another one. Three catches were dropped in the last over, but Unadkat held his composure to give his team the much-needed victory.