IPL 2022: Bhuvneshwar picked Umran Malik and Abhishek Sharma as the obvious positives.
Mumbai: It was another disappointing season for Sunrisers Hyderabad as they failed to make the playoffs. While the season got off to a poor start with two losses, Hyderabad bounced back into contention with five straight wins before shockingly losing the next five. After the loss against Punjab by five wickets on Sunday at the Wankhede stadium, stand-in captain Bhuvneshwar Kumar reckoned it was a challenging season and listed the positives for the side.
Bhuvneshwar picked Umran Malik and Abhishek Sharma as the obvious positives, while he said that they had a good core in Aiden Markram and Nicholas Pooran.
“Have had many positives, Umran Malik and Abhishek Sharma were the obvious positives, but we have a decent core of batting with Aiden Markram and Nicholas Pooran coming up pretty well. As for me, it was a challenging season with injuries hampering me, thought I did a decent job and will look to come back better in the next season,” Bhuvneshwar at the post-match presentation.
Meanwhile, left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar and pacer Nathan Ellis took three wickets each to restrict Hyderabad to 157/8. Punjab chased down the total with 29 balls to spare, thanks to a rollicking unbeaten 49 off just 22 balls from Liam Livingstone.
In the pursuit of 158, Jonny Bairstow began with five boundaries off Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Washington Sundar in the first two overs. Despite getting a reprieve from Umran Malik in the second over, Bairstow couldn’t make much of the chance as left-arm pacer Fazalhaq Farooqui flattened his off-stump.
Brief scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 157/8 in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 43, Romario Shepherd 26 not out; Nathan Ellis 3/41, Harpreet Brar 3/26) lost to Punjab Kings 160/5 in 15.1 overs (Liam Livingstone 49 not out, Shikhar Dhawan 39; Fazalhaq Farooqui 2/32, Washington Sundar 1/19) by five wickets.