Rahul Tripathi and Mayank Markande produced match-winning performances against Punjab Kings in a home clash to help SRH open its account in IPL 2023. Following successive losses, SunRisers Hyderabad bagged two points as Tripathi’s unbeaten 70 helped them chase a modest 144 on a Sunday evening. With this, Punjab also suffered its first loss of the season.
Electing to bowl first after winning the toss, SRH’s Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked a wicket on the first ball by dismissing in-form batter Prabhsimran Singh, trapped right in front. Two more wickets held them back as Hyderabad was top of their opponent inside the Powerplay.
Captain Shikhar Dhawan and Sam Curran stitched a little partnership, only for Mayank Markande to come in and wreak havoc in the middle overs. While wickets kept tumbling at one end, Dhawan stood his ground and took the onus on him to bail his team out of trouble. The left-handed batter deployed a brave approach, as he kept the strike mostly and went after the bowlers.
As luck favoured him a bit, he kept going till the end and eventually scored an unbeaten 99, helping his team reach a fighting total of 143 for nine.
Though the change in batting order didn’t bring results up-front, SRH made the most of this opportunity and didn’t lose control of the game during the chase. Following Harry Brook’s wicket in the first six overs, opener Mayank Agarwal and Tripathi went about their business and kept rotating strikes in addition to smashing some bad balls for boundaries.
After Mayank departed, Aiden Markram entered the scene, and alongside Tripathi, who hit a composed fifty (74 off 48 balls), the pair, without much hassle, chased down the target with 17 balls and eight wickets in hand.
While Punjab will next face defending champions Gujarat Titans on Thursday, SRH will take on KKR on Friday.
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