IPL 6: Sunrisers beat KXIP by 30 runs to remain in hunt for play-offs

Mohali: Darren Sammy led a fine bowling display with four wickets as Sunrisers Hyderabad spanked Kings XI Punjab by 30 runs to keep themselves in the hunt for a play-offs berth in the Pepsi IPL here on Saturday.

SCORECARD» | HIGHLIGHTS» | AS IT HAPPENED» POINTS TABLE» I SCHEDULE» Sammy (4/22) claimed two crucial wickets in his first two deliveries before adding two more later to play a big role in Sunrisers defending 150 for seven they scored revolving around Parthiv Patel`s 61 after being put into bat at PCA Stadium. Dale Steyn chipped in with two wickets for 20 runs while Thisara Perera grabbed on wicket. Chasing 151 for a win, KXIP were restricted to 120 for nine with Luke Pomersbach top-scoring with a 40-ball 33 not out. The KXIP, who are now virtually out of reckoning for a play-offs berth after today`s loss, were to blame themselves as they allowed the Sunrisers to recover from 52 for five at one stage. In their run chase also, the home side were on course in the first half of their innings but lost the plot in the second half. After today`s win, the Sunrisers occupy the fifth spot with 16 points from 13 matches while KXIP remained on sixth place with 10 points from 13 matches. Fast bowler Dale Steyn gave the Sunrisers breakthrough in the first over itself by removing opener Mandeep Singh for a duck with the batsman failing to connect an out-swinging delivery properly to get a leading edge for Cameron White to take a low diving catch. The other opener and KXIP captain Adam Gilchrist and Shaun Marsh denied success to the Sunrisers bowlers for a while. Marsh hit Steyn for two fours in the third over before Gilchrist meted out Ishant Sharma the same treatment in the sixth over. Gilchrist (26) and Marsh (18) looked like settling down for big knocks before Sammy removed both the batsmen in his first two deliveries in the eighth over to change the complexion of the game. Marsh pulled a short of length delivery outside off but found Perera too good a fielder to beat at long on. Gilchrist also tried to play a pull shot only to get a thick inside edge to drag the ball to his stumps. Dangerous David Miller (6) was out in the 10th over to another poor shot, of the bowling of Sammy with White the catcher at cover. The three quick jolts pushed KXIP in the backfoot and the asking rate shot up to over 11 by the 13th over. Rajagopal Satish pulled the asking rate down a bit as he hit two sixes and a four off Amit Mishra in the 14th over which produced 18 runs. Karan Sharma dropped Pomersbach at point failing to take an easy catch but that blunder did not cost the Sunrisers dear as Perera mixed up his deliveries nicely to give away just three runs in the 16th over. Pomersbach and Satish could not get the big hits when required the most as KXIP needed 55 runs from the last four overs. Satish (25) was run out in the 17th over while the next two overs saw Piyush Chawla (0) and Praveen Kumar (1) being dismissed by Perera and Steyn respectively to virtually end the match. Earlier, opener Parthiv struck a patient half century as he anchored Sunrisers to a challenging 150 for seven after being put in to bat. The Sunrisers were reduced to 52 for five in the ninth over with IPL debutant Sandeep Sharma (3/21) doing most of the damage before Parthiv (61) anchored the visiting side`s innings to post a defendable total. Thisara Perera pushed Sunrisers to 150 with a quickfire 32 not out from just 19 balls as they added 94 runs in the second half of their innings after being reduced to 56 for five after 10 overs. Parthiv first shared 42 runs with Karan Sharma (22) from 6.1 overs for the sixth wicket before stitching a 48-run seventh wicket stand from just 4.1 overs with Perera on a PCA Stadium pitch which looked damped due to rain. Parthiv hit five fours and two sixes in his 47-ball innings while Perera`s knock had two fours and as many sixes. The Sunrisers started well, with openers Shikhar Dhawan and Parthiv looking in good form. But, after Dhawan fell in the fifth over to Harmeet Singh, 19-year-old medium pacer Sandeep struck in his first over removing Hanuma Vihari (5) who perished while trying to cut an out-swinging delivery only to find a safe pair of hands of David Miller. Sandeep then struck twice in his second over and the innings` eighth to deal a blow to Sunrisers. He trapped Cameron White (10), who captained the visiting side in place of out-of-form Kumar Sangakkara, LBW before dismissing Biplab Samantray (0) in consecutive balls. Darren Sammy also returned to the dressing room without opening account and the Sunrisers were 52 for five in the ninth over. But, Parthiv held one end intact and with Karan Sharma stitched a crucial 42 runs for the sixth wicket. Karan hit a 18-ball 22 before he edged a Parvinder Awana delivery into the safe hands of wicketkeeper and KXIP skipper Adam Gilchrist. Parthiv got full support from Sri Lankan all-rounder Perera, who batted brilliantly. Both cut loose and punished the KXIP bowlers. In the 18th over, Perera hit Praveen Kumar for a towering six and a four and then Parthiv followed it up in the next over, hitting Harmeet Singh for a six and a boundary. Earlier, the Sunrisers showed their intentions to go for runs in the second over itself, when Parthiv hit a four and a six of Awana. Dhawan, who hit the highest Test score by a debutant at this ground against Australia, then hit a boundary off Praveen Kumar in the following over. The first change in bowling brought another medium pacer Harmeet into operation. Dhawan used his feet to come down the wicket on a couple of occasions but gave a return catch to Harmeet in the first delivery he bowled in the match. PTI