Turning Point: Punjab kept Warner on a tight leash

Punjab had done so well to keep things tight that Hyderabad could muster only 27 runs in the Powerplay overs!

• Scorecard

When Kings XI Punjab captain R Ashwin won the toss and elected to field against Sunrisers Hyderabad, it turned out to be a good, calculated decision.

Dew would settle in later in the evening and the ball was not coming on to the bat as easily as expected and that did in Hyderabad completely.

Punjab bowlers gave nothing away, especially after taking out Hyderabad opener Jonny Bairstow (1 off 6) in the second over. With their middle order getting few chances to bat in this IPL, it was going to be a task for SRH to get going.

David Warner and one down Vijay Shankar had to work their way through as the boundaries dried up. Rajpoot and Shami kept things tight and they were well complemented by some brilliant ground fielding.

Warner just could not get going in the Powerplays. His flow was missing and all he and Shankar could do was get the runs on the board in singles and twos. Punjab had done so well to keep things tight that Hyderabad could muster only 27 runs in the Powerplay overs!

Matters got worse for Hyderabad when a nicely set Shankar was caught behind for 26 off 27 balls off the bowling of Ashwin.

Warner then got to an uncharacteristic half-century in the 16th over courtesy just four 4s and a 6.

Warner and Manish Pandey then converted the singles into twos, ran hard and got the odd boundary in, sharing a 55-run partnership.

Hyderabad eventually got to 150 with Warner batting through the innings and Hooda playing a cameo in the last over (14 off 3).

Although Punjab lost Chris Gayle early and Hyderabad took it to the last over, with the dew factor, the target was always going to be achievable and KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal once again joined hands to help their team through.