Match Details
Arya- It wasn’t the most challenging targets to chase when it began, but SRH would have been in the game, had they got some early wickets. However Jonny Bairstow had other ideas as he started off with some amazing shots to get things under way. He wanted to finish on a high and hence took the chances early on. Shikhar Dhawan took a bit of time to get underway but Bairstow made sure, Punjab raced off to 29 in less than 3 overs before getting castled by a great delivery from Farooqi. Dhawan then came into the attack smashing back to back sixes of Jagadeesh Suchith.
While Dhawan went on well at the other end, Shahrukh Khan was sent up the order at No 3. He was playing a match after quite a while and smashed a few lusty blows to begin with. However, he couldn’t quite carry on the good work and was dismissed by Umran Malik in his first over but that wasn’t enough to stop Punjab from motoring along to the target. Mayank Agarwal's woeful return continued as he was dismissed for a solitary run but from there on it was a great knock from Livingstone which never really allowed SRH to keep a hold in the match.
Livingstone missed a few but still managed to utilise his match-ups to perfection. He was literally toying with the bowlers on song and went onto smash 49 of just 22 deliveries which included 2 fours and 5 sixes. Jitesh Sharma also started off well and raced off to 19 in no time which never allowed SRH to have any chance whatsoever. In the end it was a cakewalk for Punjab as they reached the target with 29 deliveries to spare.
Earlier in the day it was SRH who struggled their way to 150 courtesy some good knocks from Abhishek Sharma and Romario Shepherd towards the fag end of the innings. After losing Priyam Garg early on, SRH batted sensibly as Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi shared a good partnership. Aiden Markram also started off well but it was Harpreet Brar who bowled an exceptional spell in the middle overs and bagged three important wickets.
Despite some impressive bowling in the middle overs, it was Romario Shepherd and Washington Sundar who provided the much-needed impetus towards the later stages to them close to the 160 mark. Shepherd remained unbeaten on 26 of 15 deliveries while Sundar scored 25.