IPL: Five-star Bhuvneshwar bowls Sunrisers to victory

Bhuvneshwar Kumar claimed career-best figures of five for 19 to help Sunrisers Hyderabad register a narrow five-run victory against Kings XI Punjab in Hyderabad, on Monday.

• Scorecard

Sent into bat, Sunrisers Hyderabad scored 159 for six with skipper David Warner hitting 70 off 54 balls at the Rajiv  Gandhi International Stadium.

In reply, Punjab were left reeling on 62 for five after 10 overs before Manan Vohra played a magnificent innings of 95 from 50 balls which saw the visitors nearly clinch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Bhuvneshwar claimed two wickets in the penultimate over of the innings, including the crucial scalp of Vohra, before Siddharth Kaul bowled Ishant Sharma in the final over to guide the champions to victory.

Kings XI Punjab were eventually bowled out for 154 in 19.4 overs.

Earlier, skipper David Warner top-scored with a 54-ball 70 to steer Sunrisers Hyderabad to 159 for six after a difficult start.

Warner added 60 valuable runs with Naman Ojha (34), giving the innings some momentum after a slow start, which saw the home side score only 25 runs in the first five overs.

This was Warner's 34th fifty, the most by any batsman in the tournament, and his fifth straight against Kings XI Punjab.

Opting to field, Kings XI Punjab bowlers were disciplined in their approach on a pitch where shot-making was not the easiest thing in the world. Warner, however, was equal to the task on a day when Afghanistan's Mohammad Nabi made his IPL debut.

Kings XI Punjab continued to bowl a tight line and length and the reward came in the form of Dhawan's wicket, caught behind off a Mohit Sharma bouncer in the fifth over.

Warner used the reverse sweep to hit KC Cariappa for a six in the seventh over as Sunrisers looked desperate to break free after a slow start.

A couple of wickets by spinner Axar Patel in his first over, including Yuvraj Singh's first-ball duck, left Sunrisers at 50 for three in the 10th over.

The hat-trick ball was negotiated by Naman Ojha, before the batsman scored a few useful runs, using the long handle to good effect, hitting a quickfire 34 from 20 balls to give the innings the much needed push in the middle overs.

Warner got to his half-century off 45 balls when he tucked one past the keeper for a boundary in the 17th over.

Rashid Khan finished the innings in style, pulling Sandeep Sharma over long on for a six.

For Kings XI Punjab, Mohit and Axar were the most successful bowlers, returning figures of two for 25 and two for 33 respectively.