Shikhar Dhawan. (Photo Source: BCCI/IPL)
In the 14th match of IPL 2023, Sunrisers Hyderabad registered their first victory of the tournament after defeating Punjab Kings comprehensively by 8 wickets. On the contrary, this was Punjab’s first loss of the tournament after having won their previous games against Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals. The loss that saw Punjab clutching to the sixth place in the IPL points table, was primarily catalysed by the batters who put up a miserable show to give effect to a batting collapse. None of the batters could step up as skipper Shikhar Dhawan and allrounder Sam Curran were the only players to score in double digits.
While wickets kept falling incessantly at one end, Dhawan played a cracker of an innings to help Punjab put up a respectable total on the board. He camped at one end to carry his bat through the innings as the stylish left-hander played 66 deliveries and scored a whopping 99 runs at an impressive strike rate of 150. His unconquered innings was studded with 12 fours and five sixes.
Following the performance, as he interacted with ace cricket expert Harsha Bhogle during the post-match presentation ceremony, Dhawan jokingly asked Bhogle if he was happy with his strike rate, referring to an earlier tweet by Bhogle where he had raised concerns regarding Dhawan’s strike rate. This had come after Dhawan’s blistering innings of 86* against Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati where he had initially been slow in carrying out his proceedings, which was questioned by Bhogle who, nevertheless, cited his acceleration in the later half of the innings.
Referring to that tweet, Dhawan quirkily asked Bhogle for his reaction following his recent innings against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
‘I hope you are happy with my strike rate’ – Dhawan said with a wide smile on his face.
See Bhogle’s tweet here
Mayank Markande dismantles PBKS batting lineup to hand SRH their first win
Mayank Markande, who is best known for his exploits in Mumbai Indians’ jersey, wreaked havoc on the Punjab Kings’ lower-middle order to curb all possibilities of making a comeback. He followed up on Marco Jansen’s execution of a top-order debacle and picked four crucial wickets against just 15 runs in his quota of four overs. Jansen delivered an exemplary spell as well, picking up two for 16 in three overs, as SRH restricted PBKS to 143/9 after 20 overs.
Coming in to bat, Sunrisers comfortably cruised through to register their first victory of the tournament. Rahul Tripathi led the chase, scoring an unbeaten 74 in 48 deliveries. His innings consisted of 10 fours and three sixes. For Punjab, Arshdeep Singh and Rahul Chahar picked one wicket each.