Sunrisers Hyderabad make it four in a row with victory over Punjab Kings

Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3 for 22) and Umran Malik (4 for 28) helped restrict Punjab Kings to 151, a total Sunrisers chased down with seven balls to spare

Navi Mumbai: Punjab Kings 151, Sunrisers Hyderabad 152-3 – Sunrisers Hyderabad won by seven wickets

Scorecard

Sunrisers Hyderabad extended their winning streak to four matches with a seven-wicket victory over Punjab Kings.

Having won the toss and elected to field, Sunrisers made a strong start to the match, with four wickets falling in the opening eight overs to reduce Punjab Kings to 61 for 4.

A 71-run fifth-wicket stand (49 balls) between Liam Livingstone and Shahrukh Khan threatened to undo their good work and despite Bhuvneshwar Kumar removing the latter in the 17th over, the dangerous Livingstone – who scored 60 runs from 33 balls – remained.

Kumar got his man at the end of the 19th over to reduce the Kings to 151 for 6 and thanks to a triple-wicket maiden from Umran Malik and a runout by Jagadeesha Suchith and Nicholas Pooran, they ended the innings all out without adding a single run.

^{Liam Livingstone scored a half-century in vain for Punjab Kings [screengrab/BCCI]}

Malik finished with figures of 4 for 28 while Kumar took 3 for 22.

In reply, Sunrisers recovered from a slow start and the early wicket of Kane Williamson thanks to solid knocks from Abhishek Sharma (31 off 25) and Rahul Tripathi (34 from 22).

Rahul Chahar combined with Shahrukh Khan to remove both players, picking up Tripathi in the ninth over and Sharma in the 11th, but Aiden Markram and Pooran ensured there would little drama from the remaining overs, enjoying a 75-run stand to see their side home with seven balls to spare.

Markram finished unbeaten on 41 from 27 balls, sealing the win with a six off Vaibhav Arora, while Pooran contributed a steady 35 not out off 30.

Sunrisers have climbed up to fourth in the table, level on points with first-placed Gujarat Titans and two clear of fifth-placed Rajasthan Royals. However, both teams have a game in hand over Williamson’s side.