Nicholas Pooran valiant efforts went in vain as Sunrisers Hyderabad thrash Kings XI Punjab by 69 runs to register their third victory of Dream11 Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020. Chasing a mountain of 202 runs, Punjab lost three early wickets, and their defeat looked inevitable. However, Nicholas Pooran fought alone and played a staggering knock. He smashed fours and sixes all over the park, scoring 77 runs off 37 balls. However, he didn’t much support from other ends as Punjab eventually fall short. Rashid Khan was the pick of the Hyderabad bowlers with three wickets while T Natarajan and Khaleel Ahmed took two wickets apiece. SRH vs KXIP Highlights Dream11 IPL 2020.

Earlier in the match, SRH skipper David Warner won the toss and elected to bat first. The decision looked spot on as David Warner, and Jonny Bairstow got Hyderabad off to a flying start. The wicket-keeper batsman was spectacular in particular, scoring 97 runs off just 55 balls while the skipper also scored a half-century. With the openers adding 160 runs for the first wicket, the stage was set for an excellent finish. However, Ravi Bishnoi and Arshdeep Singh pulled things back with the ball as SRH were restricted to 201/6 despite a sensational start. Nevertheless, it eventually proved to be enough.  Meanwhile, let’s look at the stat highlights of the game. Nicholas Pooran Registers the Fastest Half-Century of Dream11 IPL 2020.

# SRH advance to the third position in the IPL 2020 team standings after thrashing KXIP by 69 runs.

# This is SRH’s third-biggest victory by runs in IPL history.

# Jonny Bairstow brought up the highest score for SRH in IPL 2020.

# Bairstow’s 97 was the fourth-highest score by an SRH batsman in Indian Premier League history.

# David Warner scored his ninth successive half-century against SRH in IPL, most consecutive fifties by any batsmen in IPL history.

# This was the fifth-century stand by Warner and Bairstow for SRH in just 16 IPL matches.

# Nicholas Pooran scored the fastest half-century of IPL 2020 (17 balls).

# Pooran’s half-century was also the second-fastest by a KXIP batsman in IPL.

With this SRH advance to the third position in the team standings and will be determined to get a berth in the playoffs. They will next face Rajasthan Royals at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on October 11. On the other hand, KXIP remain at the last position, and their chances of making it to the top four are looking highly unlikely. Their next assignment is against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on October 10.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 08, 2020 11:56 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).